City officials recently granted financial assistance amounting to P1 million from the 2023 current appropriation under the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Quick Response Fund (CDRRM-QF) of the city government to some municipal governments of Oriental Mindoro which were declared under a state of calamity as per Resolution No. 6340, series of 2023 due to the oil spill from the sunken ship motor tanker Princess Empress last February 28, 2023.
Under Ordinance No. 66, series of 2023, the recipients of the said financial assistance with the corresponding amounts include the towns of Naujan – P120,000, Bulalacao – P120,000, Pola – P120,000, Pinamalayan – P120,000, Mansalay – P120,000, Bansud – P100,000, Roxas – P100,000, Bongabong – P100,000 and Calapan City – P100,000.
City legislators stated that it has been the practice of the city government in countless occasions of extending financial assistance to cities and municipalities and provinces which have been struck by natural or human-made calamities, which has been a tradition of support and and in reciprocation of what other local governments from various parts of the country had extended to the city when it was hit by the July 16, 1990 killer earthquake and other calamities.
Earlier, these areas were declared under a state of calamity by the provincial board of Oriental Mindoro as per Resolution No. 6340, series of 2023 following the oil spill that occurred when the MT Princess Empress sank off the coast of the province last February 28, 2023.
The council claimed that the amount of P1 million will be charged under the 2023 current appropriation of the CDRRMQF.
In a certification of availability of funds dated June 26, 2023, the city’s Local Finance Committee certified that the amount of P1 million is available from the current appropriation earmarked under the CDRRMQF for the financial assistance to various local government units.