“We sent about one million-peso (USD 0.02M) worth of goods and groceries and six million-peso (USD 0.14M) cash to the affected areas. These are already there.” — Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio
By ALEX D. LOPEZ
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The city’s 7.311 million-peso (USD 0.17M) assistance was already received by the flood-stricken residents of Metro Manila and some provinces in Luzon.
This was confirmed by Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, in a press briefing, Monday.
“We sent about one million-peso (USD 0.02M) worth of goods and groceries and six million-peso (USD 0.14M) cash to the affected areas. These are already there,” Duterte-Carpio said.
She confirmed that the first batch of assistance arrived in Manila last Wednesday evening, while the second batch arrived Thursday noon. The distribution of the relief assistance to the victims, she added, started by Thursday evening.
The city council passed an ordinance authorizing the Mayor to utilize the said amount to help the people in Luzon.
The ordinance cites that each of the affected areas in Metro Manila and Luzon, including Iloilo City and Oton in Region VI will receive 50,000 pesos (USD 1,191) to 100,000 pesos (USD 2,382).
Metro Manila and other regions in Luzon were heavily affected last week by the Southwest Monsoon enhanced by Typhoon Haikui.
In the August 11 report released by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the southwest monsoon affected a total of 667,450 families or over three million individuals. More than 800,000 persons or 179,852 families, the report added, were served inside and outside evacuation centers.
Sixteen provinces in Regions I, III, IV-A, IV-B, VI and NCR were affected, NDRRMC said. It added, the southwest monsoon claimed 77 lives, mostly from drowning. Seven are still missing.
A total of 8,352 houses were damaged in Regions I, III, IV-A, IV-B and VI. The total cost of damages to infrastructure and agriculture in Regions I, IV-A and IV-B is PHP 157,581.611.50 (USD 127,976).
Meanwhile, partylists groups Gabriela and Kabataan also launched their relief assistance by collecting used clothing and other goods.
Gabriela already collected 50 sacks of used clothing. They are still in the process of arranging for the shipment of the collected goods to their networks in Metro Manila and Luzon.
The offices of both groups are still accepting donations from other support groups and individuals not only in Davao City but in nearby provinces and cities as well. (Alex D. Lopez, davaotoday.com)
