DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The city government of Davao will provide PhP3.4M assistance to provinces, municipalities, and cities previously declared under the state of calamity due to the dry spell.
The City Council, in its regular session on Tuesday, April 23 approved an Ordinance that will provide assistance to calamity-stricken areas in the country brought about by the El Niño phenomenon.
The approved ordinance was introduced by the Committee on Finance, Ways, Means, and Appropriations of the City Council.
Under the said Ordinance, the municipalities of Bingawan and Lambunao in Iloilo will be provided with PhP300,000 each while the town of Murcia in Negros will be granted with PhP300,000 aid.
The cities of Talisay and Carcar in Cebu will also receive PhP300,000 each, the provincial government of Cebu will also get PhP400,000, while the City of Cebu will be provided with PhP500,000 assistance.
In Mindanao, the nearby province of Davao del Sur will be provided with PhP1 million financial aid.
The release of the financial assistance will be sourced from the 30% Quick Response Fund (QRF) of the 5% Calamity Fund of the city government for the calendar year 2019.
“(The) widespread destruction necessitates relief operations, reconstruction, rehabilitation, and provision of basic services in the affected areas,” the Ordinance explained.
Councilor Diosdado Mahipus, vice chair of the said committee and presenter of the said ordinance said the approval came as the members of the City Council see the necessity to provide aid to the areas badly affected by the long drought.
“With this dry spell, we took out an amount from our appropriated budget for QRF to help the hit farmers,” Mahipus said.
Meanwhile, with the election ban, the city government, particularly the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) will work with the Philippine National Red Cross in the distribution of financial assistance.
“We have the election ban now that prohibits the distribution of goods or items during the election period. And so we referred to the Commission on Elections resolution 10511 defining the exemptions to the election ban,” Mahipus said.
He said the resolution only allows the Philippine National Red Cross to distribute relief assistance through the said financial aid. (davaotoday.com)
