DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said that the City Government will be extending assistance to victims of Tropical Storm Urduja in Biliran province and parts of Samar and Leyte.
In a statement from Davao Information Office on Wednesday, December 20, Duterte-Carpio said she had expected the City Council to call for a special session anytime this week to vote on the issue of providing financial assistance to Urduja-affected areas and to approve a budget allocation for the said purpose.
“Once we finish all the papers, the City Council will convene in a special session to authorize the City Government to use our disaster funds that we will give to the municipalities and provinces affected by the recent typhoon,” Duterte-Carpio said.
Aside from Biliran, other areas initially identified for assistance were the towns of Barobo, Sta. Fe, San Miguel and Tanawan in Leyte Province; Dolores, Can-Avid, Giporlos, Oras, Llorente, and Quinapondan in Eastern Samar; the municipality of Zumarraga in Western Samar, the entire province of Northern Samar, and Tacloban City.
Duterte-Carpio said that the amount of the financial assistance will be based on the actual number of families affected by the typhoon.
The CIO report read that as of December 19, the city government of Davao has an unused disaster fund amounting to 96 million.
“It is just right for us to share our disaster funds to those who need it, instead of letting the budget sleep,” she added.
This will not be the first time that Davao city will extend assistance to disaster stricken areas.
Last January, the city also extended assistance to Cagayan de Oro City after it was plagued by flood, and last May to Marawi city, after it was besieged by Islamic State inspired-Maute group.