• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Monday (Nov. 17) the owners of destroyed and damaged houses due to Typhoon Tino will receive cash assistance from the P50 million given by the Office of the President to the provincial government.
The report of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office showed 12,633 houses were destroyed while 98,081 were damaged.
Lacson said he will consult the affected local government units (LGUs) on the distribution as the funds are not sufficient to cover all the victims, if the target is to give P10,000 for each destroyed house and P5,000 for every damaged home.
During the visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Nov. 15 to LGUs in central Negros, the Department of Social Welfare and Development gave P10,000 each to families with destroyed houses and P5,000 to each of those with damaged houses.
The Office of the President also downloaded financial assistance of P10 million each to La Castellana, Moises Padilla and La Carlota, and P5 million each to Isabela, Binalbagan, and Hinigaran.
Lacson said they aim to distribute the P50 million financial assistance as soon as possible, once the affected LGUs have submitted the list of recipients.
More than 600 families in La Castellana and Moises Padilla, whose houses situated along the riverbanks were destroyed by floods, may no longer return to their respective areas.
In Moises Padilla, Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo said they are looking for relocation sites in barangays of Magallon Cadre, Quintin Remo and Inolingan, in Moises Padilla, to relocate 362 families, who residences destroyed by massive flooding.
La Castellana Vice Mayor Alme Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan said they are also looking for relocation sites for 300 families.
Lacson also raised the possibility that many typhoon victims with destroyed homes may no longer be able to return to their dwelling sites.
“They lost their houses and even their land. Many places are now covered with boulders or have been overrun by water. These areas are already no-build zones,” he added.
Lacson said the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development is ready to provide free modular houses for evacuees. | GB
