Financial aid for bohol Negros Occidental to give P2M; Ormoc, Baybay cities vow P2.1M

CEBU, Philippines - Financial assistance from various local government units will be pouring into earthquake-hit Bohol soon.

The Negros Occidental provincial government will be giving P2-million in cash aid, according to Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. yesterday, while the Ormoc City and Baybay City LGUs in Leyte province will also give Bohol a total of P2.1 million in financial assistance.

Marañon said the Provincial Board had already approved a resolution allocating the fund aid. “We have to give something because the damage in Bohol is really huge,” he said.

“God has spared Negros Occidental from a lot of calamities. We have to be thankful for that,” said the governor, as he is calling on the private sector to give donations, in cash or in kind.

Baybay City (Leyte) Mayor Carmen Cari earlier told The Freeman that her LGU will be giving P100,000 each to the destroyed towns of Bohol, such as Loon, Loboc and Maribojoc, among others, considering that two of the city councilors and many students and teachers of the Visayas State University here are from Bohol.

Initially, Baybay LGU wanted to send relief goods to Bohol but found out that transporting by sea and delivering these to the quake-hit areas was difficult due to the damaged roads, so it decided to give out cash donations instead.

Ormoc City LGU, for its part, has vowed to give a total of  P1.6-million in financial aid, itemized as follows: P500,000 for Bohol; P500,000 for Cebu province; P300,000 for Tagbilaran City; and P300,000 for Cebu City.

Ben Matiga, designated officer of  the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council in Ormoc, said the request for the release of these funds was already deliberated in the City Council for approval.

Ormoc Vice Mayor Leo Carmelo Locsin Jr., said the City Council will give the measure urgent attention. “We’ve been victims of a big calamity once,” referring to the Ormoc floods in 1991, “and was the recipient of the generosity of many LGUs. It is only right that we also immediately respond to the needs of others,” he said. (FREEMAN)