Cebu mayor arrives from Oro, Iligan visit

Saturday, January 21, 2012

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama has returned from his trip to Iligan and Cagayan de Oro Cities where he handed over the City Government's financial aid.

Both cities were badly hit by Typhoon Sendong last December.

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Rama handed P3 million to Cagayan de Oro and P2 million to Iligan last Thursday.

The mayor, accompanied by Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office Executive Director Alvin Santillana and Public Information Officer Carlo Dugaduga, was also toured around areas where massive destruction of infrastructure was still visible.

“It was a dreadful sight,” said Rama.

“We have to address the constricted, silted and lost waterways so that we will not end up like what I saw,” said Rama.

Yesterday, Rama visited Mahiga Creek to see how a flood as big as those that hit
Iligan and Cagayan can be averted.

“We will not be backing out from our job so we will not be counting bodies,” the mayor also said.

He claimed as political will his decision to remove illegal structures along Mahiga Creek, starting with the Mabolo area.

The move prompted displaced settlers to file cases against the mayor for violation of the Urban Development and Housing Act for failure of the City to provide relocation sites.

Spending

Cagayan and Iligan Cities spend as much as P98,000 a day to feed the families displaced by Typhoon Sendong.

The Cebu City Council, in passing a resolution to give financial assistance to the areas where flood claimed over a thousands lives, insisted they will have representatives in handing out the cash assistance.

Rama said he sent an invitation to the Council but no one could make the trip with him.

The mayor, who was dismayed by the slashing of the budget from his proposal of P11.8 billion to just P5.2 billion, was not done lamenting about the cut.

He said Cebu City could have helped more in the rehabilitation of Iligan and Cagayan
by sending heavy equipment, but the budget was slashed.

While the City acquired two payloaders, two manlifters, an excavator and a skid loader last Wednesday, Rama said these will be used in Cebu City.

Rama will be on vacation for two weeks starting today, except for a trip to India to check on the Bus Rapid Transport system of the country. The City aims to implement the same mass transport system here.