City appeals for patience from victims of ‘Odette’

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City government has appealed for more patience from the typhoon victims who have yet to receive the P5,000 cash assistance due to the ongoing election ban imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Karla Henry, spokesperson of Mayor Michael Rama, made the appeal as there are still around 40,000 homeowners waiting to receive their share of the financial aid.

The city government already distributed at least P531-million in financial assistance to residents, whose houses were damaged by typhoon Odette in December last year.

Rama earlier vowed to provide P5,000 cash assistance to each family affected by the typhoon.

Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) head Portia Basmayor said that there are still around 40,000 homeowners that are yet to receive the financial aid.

Should the Comelec deny the city’s request for ban exemption, Henry assured that the qualified families will receive the amount after the elections.

“Actions are being undertaken for an exemption for the City of Cebu to continue the ayuda (distribution), but we will have to wait and see if that exemption will be granted. But, if and when there is no exemption, we are reassuring that it will be released after the elections,” said Henry.

Lawyer Gerry Carillo, chairperson of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, already sent a letter to the Comelec head office to seek the needed exemption.

Carillo earlier said that the Comelec Central Visayas (Comelec-7) has given a “verbal” authority to proceed with the distribution of the financial assistance. However, to refrain from being flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA), they were also told to wait the issuance of a permit from the Comelec head office.

The city’s Public Information Office (PIO) reported that 106,212 structure owners already received the P5,000 assistance. This means the city government already released P531,060,000 from the P576 million earmarked for the purpose. — FPL (FREEMAN)