TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. formally handed over to the governors of four Cordillera provinces some P45 million worth of cash assistance that could be initially used to aid calamity-stricken victims in their respective areas of jurisdiction following the wrath of Supertyphoon Egay in most parts of the Northern and Central Luzon area.
Abra got the biggest share from the cash assistance with P20 million followed by Benguet and Mountain Province with P10 million each and Kalinga with P5 million.
The President, together with some Cabinet officials, flew to the Cagayan Valley Region recently to conduct an initial assessment and evaluation on the extent of damages caused by Supertyphoon Egay in the different parts of Northern Luzon and to distribute initial government assistance to the calamity-stricken areas.
Mountain Province Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr. expressed his gratitude to the President for the timely financial assistance that the provincial government could use in initially extending to the calamity-stricken areas in the province.
He admitted that most parts of the province suffered enormous damage from the typhoon, especially on the sources of livelihood and the major infrastructures, thus, assessment and evaluation on the extent of damages is still underway to ascertain the real situation on the ground.
Earlier, Abra, Mountain Province and Apayao had been placed under a state of calamity following the enormous damages inflicted by the weather disturbance to communities and the environment in the different parts of the region.
For his part, Benguet Gov. Melchor D. Diclas also expressed the gratitude of the people and officialdom of the province to the Chief Executive for the grant of the initial wave of financial assistance so that the provincial government could extend more aid to the people affected by the weather disturbance.
The Benguet governor said that the provincial government is currently conducting an assessment and evaluation on the extent of damages inflicted by the typhoon to the agriculture sector considering that Benguet is the Salad Bowl of the Philippines to ensure the steady supply of vegetables in the various markets and avoid the possible shortage of supply that could cause artificial increase in vegetable prices in the markets.
Kalinga Gov. James S. Edubba claimed that the initial financial assistance given by President Marcos, Jr. will definitely go a long way in responding to the needs of the calamity-stricken residents although the province still needs more aid from concerned government agencies to allow the agriculture sector and the infrastructure to recover from the effects of the typhoon.
According to him, the people and officialdom of Kalinga are grateful to such assistance from the President because it will contribute in enhancing the response of the local government to the calamity-stricken communities in the different parts of the province while awaiting more assistance from concerned government agencies and the private sector.
