Cebu City to give P5M to victims of earthquake

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

RELIEF goods were sent to earthquake victims in Negros Oriental yesterday, as Cebu City Hall and the Capitol prepare to extend financial assistance to the affected families in the neighboring province.

The City Government will allocate P5 million as financial aid to the families displaced by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Tayasan town in Negros Oriental last Monday.

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Mayor Michael Rama said the City is ready to help the victims from the said province, and will charge the amount to its calamity funds.

Yesterday, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 shipped relief goods that include food packs, mats, blankets, mosquito nets, tents and slippers, which will be given to earthquake victims in the towns of Guihulngan, La Libertad, Bindoy and Tayasan.

As of yesterday morning, the department recorded a total of 1,100 earthquake victims, with 15 confirmed deaths. Twenty-nine others are missing.

More effort

“As more reports are coming in, the DSWD is doubling its efforts to pack additional goods for the next round of shipment and relief distribution in the other affected municipalities in Negros Oriental,” DSWD 7 said in a statement.

Social workers have conducted defusing sessions for survivors in the different evacuation centers in the province.

“We are now keeping in touch with all our local counterparts in Negros Oriental to generate updates for provision of augmentation support especially along relief works,” said DSWD Regional Director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre.

The agency set up a donation desk in its office on M.J. Cuenco Ave. in Cebu City.

At the Capitol yesterday, Gov. Gwen Garcia urged Cebuanos to thank the Sto. Niño for continuing to protect Cebu and its people.

Damage

Apart from minor damage to infrastructure, Cebu was largely spared from the earthquake and its aftershocks, she said.

She instructed the Provincial Social Welfare Office to assess the damage in Negros Oriental so the Province can extend financial assistance to the victims.

The Province will also coordinate with the Archdiocese of Cebu to help with the repair of the belfry of some churches in southern towns like Dumanjug, which were damaged by the earthquake.

Capitol spokesperson Rory Jon Sepulveda said that since bell towers are properties of the church, the government cannot shoulder the cost of the repair, so a memorandum of agreement will have to be entered into by the archdiocese and the Province.

He said the Province will help because the old bell towers are part of Cebu’s heritage.

Garcia said the Province is in the position to preserve and protect heritage sites, more so because the structures continue to be used in religious ceremonies.