Tuesday, July 01, 2008 NSO asked to stop collecting fees from victims’ kin
ACTING Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has ordered the National Statistics Office (NSO) 7 booth at the Cebu City Disaster Action Center to stop collecting fees from the families of the victims of the sinking mv Princess of the Stars.
After learning that NSO 7 was collecting P140 from families for the processing of NSO documents, Rama has appealed to the NSO to stop collecting the payments.
For the families of the victims of the mv Princess of the Stars tragedy, NSO documents such as authentic copies of marriage contracts and birth certificates are vital requirements for claiming the bodies of their dead loved ones.
NSO 7 spokesman Noel Rafols said that they have been collecting from the families P140 for the processing of the requested documents.
However, Rafols said that they immediately stopped the collection upon hearing the directive of Rama.
The City has acknowledged that some families may not be able to afford the processing fees, thus the decision of stopping
the collection.
Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said that the City may shoulder payments for the processing of NSO documents.
As to how much, this still needs to be determined, said Carillo.
“Pangitaan gyud na nato ug (We will be looking for) sponsors,” said Rama.
Reimbursment
Rafols said that the management of Sulpicio Lines Inc. may pay for the processing fees.
“But we are currently coordinating with our Central Office and seeing if we can offer everything pro bono,” said Rafols.
After the directive to stop collection, Rafols said that they have already returned most of the collected money to the families that have paid yesterday morning.
Rafols assured families that everybody would get back their money.
“All they have to do is present the temporary receipt and they will be refunded,” he said. (EPB)
