THE Province is asking the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to allow Capitol employees to avail themselves of the home emergency loan program (Help).
The program is supposed to be for GSIS members who were affected by the Nov. 8, 2013 super typhoon Yolanda.
But Gov. Hilario Davide III wants that those affected by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake last Oct. 15 be included in the loan program, too.
Provincial officials said many Capitol employees failed to qualify for the program.
In a resolution, Provincial Board (PB) Member Celestino Martinez III said, “Many of the employees of the Cebu Provincial Government, who were victims of the calamities, were not able to avail themselves of the Help, especially those who lost their houses due to the Oct. 15, 2013 7.2 magnitude earthquake.”
Davide first made the request to GSIS. Martinez’s resolution is a formal support of that request. The PB approved the resolution last Monday.
GSIS originally offered the program to Yolanda survivors so they could rebuild their homes.
Recovery plan
In Cebu, 15 towns and a city in the north were affected by the super typhoon.
Based on Capitol’s rehabilitation and recovery plan, the Province will need P10.5 billion to revitalize the 16 local government units ravaged by Yolanda. Out of this, P6.611 billion will be for shelter and relocation.
There are also several municipalities in the south that had properties damaged by the calamities that struck Cebu last year.
Davide said that Capitol employees who are residents of the different municipalities and component cities in the Province need help to repair their houses.
In a separate resolution, the PB also requested National Power Corp. (NPC) president Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita to make electricity available all the time in the town of Pilar in Camotes Island.
PB Member Jude Thaddeus Durano-Sybico, author of the resolution, said the NPC diesel-powered plant is stationed in Pilar and is currently providing 18 hours of electricity in the town each day.
Sybico said rehabilitation and recovery in Pilar will be hastened if power supply is available 24 hours.
The destruction caused by last year’s calamities has attracted the attention of not just local but also internatioanl relief groups.
