Army, Air Force airlift relief goods to NegOr

DUE to the rains in the Visayas, relief goods had to be airlifted to earthquake victims in Negros Oriental.

Social workers are coordinating with the Army and Air Force in transporting the relief goods from Cebu.

“It’s a joint effort to help hard-to-reach villages,” said Jaybee Binghay, spokesperson of the Department of Social Welfare and Develoment (DSWD) in Central Visayas.

The airlift operations started Sunday.

The DSWD is attending to the needs of 230 people in Guihulngan City, one of the hardest-hit area of the Feb. 6 earthquake.

She said rough seas and damaged roads to Guihulngan would delay the delivery of relief goods.

DSWD relief packs of rice, canned goods, bottled water and used clothing are transported from the Mactan airbase to Jimalalud in Negros Oriental.

As of yesterday, the DSWD delivered P19-million worth of assistance to eight quake-devastated towns and cities in Negros Oriental.

About $200,000 worth of relief items from the Korean government will be channeled through the DSWD.

Social workers will stay in Negros until Wednesday for relief work.

Three social workers bound for Guihulngan town survived after their motorboat almost capsized in big waves last Feb. 11.

DSWD-7 social worker Ma. Lagrimas Zapatalo said they left the port of Ronda around 9 a.m. last Saturday and were a few minutes ahead of the boat carrying Red Cross volunteers that also almost capsized.

“We thought that we would never reach our destination. The waves were so big, we can’t see anything else,” Zapatalo told Cebu Daily News.

The experience, however, did not stop them from their five-day mission in Guijulngan City, Zapatalo said. Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya