Barangay Mambaling Captain Gines Abellana says that the barangay has been placed under a state of calamity and assistance from the barangay for the Sitio Puntod fire victims will soon be released.| Delta Dyrecka Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — After months of political dispute, elected Mambaling Barangay Captain Gines Abellana finally conducted a successful barangay session and declared a state of calamity in the barangay on Monday, June 3.
In an interview on Saturday, June 8, at the fire site in Sitio Alaska, Abellana said that the barangay council reached a quorum with him and four other councilors attending the regular session.
Abellana said they declared a state of calamity in the barangay through a resolution for the 156 families or 615 individuals affected by the fire that destroyed 105 houses.
He said that the successful conduct of a regular session strengthened his claim to the barangay captain’s seat.
Abellana was referring to his suspension for 24 months by the City Council last January for abuse of authority following a complaint of four barangay councilors, who claimed that Abellana allegedly withheld their honoraria.
This situation resulted to the barangay having two barangay captains with the first councilor Anna Marie Palomo, taking over as the barangay captain last January 10.
But Abellana refused to step down as barangay chief, so these left the barangay with two barangay chiefs.
Read more: Two Mambaling chiefs’ dispute may stall declaring state of calamity in barangay
Abellana, however, said that his appeal to the Office of the President allowed him to serve despite the suspension while waiting for the decision of the President.
He also assured that they had access to the funds through the Landbank account as the bank already issued him the authorization.
Abellana said that for the the recent fire, P112 million will be allocated to the fire victims which would be used to purchase building materials for them.
“This is not enough. We need more help from other agencies,” said Abellana.
For this reason, Abellana is thankful that Senator-elect Bong Go has chosen Mambaling as the place where he would spend his 45th birthday and provide aid to the victims such as food packs and school supplies.
He said the presence of the Senator would also alert the national agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on the situation of the victims.
Consequently, DSWD Undersecretary Aimee Torrefranca-Neri was also there in the fire site to help distribute goods from DSWD.
Abellana said he hoped that with the help of the national agencies, the fire victims would be able to rebuild their homes faster. /dbs