Help pours in for displaced Zambo folk

The Cebu City government has started extending help to the 60 people displaced by the conflict in Zamboanga City who sought refuge in Cebu City.

Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) head Esther Concha visited the evacuees Thursday night and gave them packed meals for dinner.

Yesterday, the DSWS provided them with sleeping mats, blankets and a sack of rice.

Concha said they are coordinating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to arrange for stress debriefing sessions for the evacuees while the City Health Office will send doctors to check their medical condition. The DSWS is also arranging with the Cebu City Schools Division to let the displaced children attend classes in the city’s schools.

A medical team from the Basak Pardo Emergency Response (BPER) yesterday went to barangay Punta Princesa where the evacuees temporarily took shelter to assess their health.

City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete said they are waiting for the assessment of the DSWS whether the evacuees can avail of the City’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program.

“It’s possible we can extend financial assistance. Usually, it’s just enough for them to be able to pay for their fare home, a maximum of P3,000,” Poblete said.

But Concha said the evacuees don’t need financial help at the moment. “For now, they just need assistance like the mats, blankets and food. But we can provide them with the AICS assistance if they need it to go home,” Concha said.

“They may not be from Cebu City but it is still part of the social services that we also extend them help,” she said.

She added that the city could not refuse to attend to the refugees considering the armed conflict in Zamboanga City. She is confident that the refugees will not stay long in Cebu City and end up roaming the city’s streets as beggars.

“Nisulti man sila during sa among assessment nga ug kanus-a ma okay na sa ilang lugar, mo balik gyud sila didto, (They told us that they intend to go back to their homes),” she said. /With Correspondents Jose Santino S. Bunachita and Christine Emily L. Pantaleon