BAGUIO CITY – The City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) disclosed that relief supplies from government agencies, the local government and the private sector are more than enough for the calamity-stricken victims in the different parts of the city.
However, City Social Welfare and Development Officer Betty Fangasan pointed out that what is needed by the calamity victims is cash assistance to rebuild their damaged structures, thus, interested donors should give their donations in cash from this time on.
She added that for donors who are still planning to donate to the calamity victims, they should first coordinate with their office for them to be guided on what to give to the calamity-stricken individuals in the different parts of the city.
For those who are planning to conduct fund raising activities for the calamity victims, Fangasan advised concerned individuals and groups must first secure the required permit from their office prior to the conduct of the said activities for them to monitor that proceeds directly accrue to the benefit of the victims.
Based on the latest data from the CSWDO, 13 people died, 14 were injured and 2 individuals are still missing during the onslaught of Tropical Cyclone Ompong in Northern Luzon, including Baguio city and other parts of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
Fangasan revealed concerned government agencies and the local government catered to the needs of some 5,440 individuals accommodated in 45 evacuation centers and other established barangay-based centers in the different parts of the city. Of the total, 1,281 families affected by the weather disturbance, 540 families composed of 2,220 individuals were given immediate attention in evacuation centers while 741 families composed of 3,220 individuals were attended to in other centers in other parts of the city.
Fangasan said that the local government already provided P20,000 financial assistance to the families of the 9 casualties that were earlier reported while the financial assistance for the bereaved families of the 4 remaining fatalities are being processed by their office and will be due for release anytime.
For the reported 68 totally damaged structures, the social welfare officer emphasized that based on an existing ordinance, the local government will be providing the owners with P20,000 each while for the owners of the partially damaged structures, the assistance will depend on the assessment on the extent of damaged incurred by the structure during the tropical cyclone.
Fangasan urged people not to use the grieving of the calamity victims to solicit donations from public and private persons and then divert these to their personal instead of turning the same to the calamity victims or the concerned offices for distribution to the affected individuals and families.
She claimed that the local government will continue to provide the needed assistance to the calamity-stricken victims to allow them to recover from the previous the typhoon. By Dexter A. See