One team from Cebu CH to Ormoc; another to northern Cebu
TWO teams from the Cebu City Government will leave City Hall today, with one team going to Ormoc City in Leyte and another going to northern Cebu.
Since early this week, teams have been sent to the two areas for damage assessment and needs analysis.
Mayor Michael Rama called for a briefing early yesterday morning to ensure that volunteers for the City’s relief operations are ready and know what they are getting into.
It is not an easy task to volunteer, he said.
An advanced party for Ormoc composed of volunteers, some City Hall employees and others boarded an Asian Shipping Corp. barge owned by Robin Sy and managed by Toledo City Mayor Ricardo Cuyanag Pepito last night.
Team leaders
Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella is the team leader for the Ormoc group and facilitated the loading of relief goods, supplies and other equipment.
The Cebu City Government will also be bringing vehicles.
The mayor will leave for Ormoc via fast craft early today.
The group bound for northern Cebu, which will be headed by City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete, will also leave early today.
The 75-man group going to Ormoc will have representatives from the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom), Management Information and Computer Services), Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council and and a medical team.
Councilor Dave Tumulak has been in and out of Ormoc since Monday, while Councilor Alvin Dizon was also in the city yesterday.
Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos surveyed the needs of northern Cebu earlier this week.
Outside help
The City has set aside P12 million from the calamity fund to give to local government units badly hit by super typhoon Yolanda.
In another development, the International Police (Interpol) will send a team to Leyte to help retrieve and identify the dead.
Interpol Secretary Gen. Ron Noble said the team will be headed by Mick O’Connell, who is Interpol’s Director of Operational Police Support. It is yet to be determined though how many Interpol personnel will be in the team.
Noble said Interpol will determine how else their agency can help the typhoon-ravage areas.
“Please know that I am and all in Interpol stand ready to do all in our power to help. I am currently finding resources to do so,” he said in a text message to Rama.
Noble expressed his condolences to those who lost family members.
Meanwhile, the mayor met with members of Mega Cebu yesterday to seek their help in providing temporary shelter to the estimated 2,500 individuals from Tacloban City and other areas in Leyte who arrived in Cebu to take refuge.
Rama said he learned that the Lapu-Lapu City Government can provide temporary shelters to 1,000 individuals.
Cebu City, for its part, can accommodate hundreds of families in three evacuation centers it has identified. These are the Tinago Sports Complex, the Cogon Ramos Sports Complex and the San Nicolas Sports Complex.