PSCO hands over P30-M in cash assistance for Mayon evacuees

This photo, taken Jan. 26, 2018, shows evacuees cooking their meals in a common kitchen in an evacuation center in Barangay Miisi in Ligao town, Albay, following the sporadic eruptions of Mount Mayon. (Photo by BULLIT MARQUEZ / AP)

LEGAZPI CITY — The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in Albay turned over on Wednesday P30 million in cash assistance to the local government units affected by continuing unrest of Mayon Volcano.

The cash assistance was released by Nelly Loyola, manager of PCSO Albay, following a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing on Tuesday between the PCSO and the Albay provincial government and the mayors of affected towns and cities.

The towns are Malilipot, Bacacay, Santo Domingo, Daraga, Camalig, and Guinobatan. And the cities are Tabaco, Ligao, and Legazpi.

Mayon crisis manager Francis Tolentino, who witnessed the signing, said that under the agreement, the fund would be used for food, supplies, sanitation, health and other needs of the thousands of displaced families staying in various evacuation centers in Albay.

President Rodrigo Duterte requested the cash assistance to augment the dwindling funds of affected local government units, Tolentino said.

Albay will receive P12 million, or 40 percent of the assistance, the biggest slice. The six towns and three cities will share the remaining P18 million.

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it had already downloaded to the said LGUs the amount of P62 million for the Cash for Work program, which give temporary employment to evacuees for 10 days, at a daily rate of P290 each. /atm