THE Provincial Government of Cotabato appealed to those who want to give donations to affected families of the recent earthquakes to coordinate with the local government units (LGUs) to avoid commotion after private vehicles were mobbed while distributing relief goods.
In a statement posted on her Facebook Sunday, November 3, Cotabato officer-in-charge (OIC) Vice Governor Shirlyn Macasarte-Villanueva advised those who would want to donate to course it through the LGUs to make the distribution more systematic and organized and avoid any violent incident.
“To all our kindhearted travelers passing by Makilala National Highway, please avoid giving assistance on your own. The Provincial Government of Cotabato and the Local Government Unit of Makilala already provided food packs to them. In fact, I distributed yesterday at around 6 p.m. despite the rain,” Macasarte-Villanueva said.
She added, “They had been receiving aid and we also received a report of two incidents where (donors in) private cars stopped by and were mobbed. Help us manage this chaos by adhering to the flow of giving relief goods. We requested them to be in our evacuation sites so we can manage the giving of aid equally and properly document them but they continuously refused.”
The vice mayor said that they should give it personally to the Incident Command Center (ICC) assigned in an area to have everyone covered.
She also denied that the people asking for help along the national highway have not received any relief goods.
“So please, let us all act and stand as one. Let us not allow others to dampen the spirit of our rescuers and relief drive operators who work doubly day and night,” she added.
The vice mayor said the Incident Management Team is serving food packs non-stop and tarps for tents and they distribute these through the responders to the victims for as long as they are properly documented and on the list of verified victims.
“As I said, lahat po ng mga nasa highway, please coordinate with your barangay officials so they can submit your name at our camp managers para pag nag distribute sa mga evacuation camps kasama na kayo. We have to do it in the evacuation camps to manage our resources and put system in the distribution of our relief goods po. Please, let’s help each other,” she appealed to the affected residents.