DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio bared that it might take 10 to 12 days before the City Government could finish distributing the first round of relief goods to all villages in the city.
Duterte-Carpio, in a radio interview on Thursday, March 26, said there is a “slow down” in the relief good distribution to all 182 barangays in the city due to some delays in the repacking.
“Dili na maka-apas ang repacking sa distribution ug sa dispatching (Our repackers cannot catch up with our distribution for dispatching). So we are slowing down,” the mayor said in a radio interview over 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
Initially, Duterte-Carpio said the city government, through the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), previously released an estimated 10,000 packed goods to 30 barangays per day.
The mayor initially projected to distribute the goods to an estimated 332,626 families per week, wherein the distributed goods are expected to last within six to seven days.
But due to the delays in the packing, she said distributed goods were reduced to half a day.
“This is the first time, actually, sa amo nga nahitabo nga we need to distribute around more than 300,000 (This is the first time we have to distribute some 300,000 goods),” Duterte-Carpio said, adding that they will have to find ways to hasten the repacking although the mayor said the figure would still be subject for validation.
CSWDO, since Monday, had already started distributing ration goods to some 23,000 households in 32 villages as part of the city’s effort to support indigent and displaced individuals due to the city-wide community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
However, some barangays are still finishing their inventory on the qualified beneficiaries, who are indigents and out-of-work head of family due to Covid-19; contractuals or “no work, no pay” and out-of-work head of families; those who are self-employed; and a low income head of family with significant loss or reduction of income.
Some residents, through social media, have been airing their concerns over the delay of its distribution, and some who were not included in the masterlist due to various issues, including “favoritism”.
To address these issues, Duterte-Carpio said she intends to open another “channel” to address the issue in the distribution of the ration cards and the relief goods.
“Ubay-ubay na ato nakita sa mga tao regarding aning ration cards and relief good distribution (We have received various complaints regarding the issue on the ration cards and relief goods distribution),” she said. Thus, she instructed CSWDO to open a lane in the barangay wherein they can report their complaints about it. (RGL)