Cebu City gives cash aid, ambulance to quake hit-municipality in Surigao

San Francisco Mayor Guia Sabanal talks to reporters when she visited the Cebu City Hall to receive the cash assistance and ambulance from Mayor Osmeña.
cdn photo/therese mae alegado

The Cebu City government gave cash assistance worth P2 million and one ambulance to San Francisco, Surigao del Norte following the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck the municipality early this year.

San Francisco Mayor Guia Sabanal, together with four other municipal officials, personally came to Cebu City hall for the formalization of the documents for the donation that will be used for the reconstruction of damaged infrastructures in San Francisco.

“We personally came here since we are very excited to receive the donation given by Mayor Osmeña, because it is a very big help for us as a 5th class municipality that is dependent on our own IRA (internal revenue allotment),” said Sabanal.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña signed the documents yesterday for the P2 million cash aid and an ambulance that will be donated to San Francisco.
Sabanal said the cash aid will be used for the repair of the gymnasium that was damaged by the earthquake.

According to Sabanal, the repair of the gymnasium is estimated to cost P5 million.

“Osmeña also donated one ambulance to us after knowing that we do not have our own ambulance which we can use during emergency,” said Sabanal.

Sabanal said the municipality only uses an L-300 van to transport their patients from the municipality to a hospital in Davao City, which takes more than seven hours to travel and where confinement and other services in a government hospital is free.

She said the reconstruction of the buildings is slow due to the lack of funds. “For example, our bridge has not been repaired yet after it was damaged by the earthquake,” said Sabanal.

Mayor Sabanal said she is still coordinating with the national government to rush the construction of bridge.