Relatives, friends of Boljoon accident’s survivors seek public’s financial help

CEBU CITY, Philippines —Relatives and friends of the survivors of the tragic incident in Boljoon town continue to call for financial help from the public.

On Monday evening, July 22, the community page “Boljoon Cebu Pilipinas” asked the public for financial assistance for the medicines and laboratory tests of the survivors.

The post, however, was taken down around noon of Tuesday, July 23.

“It was deleted as per the request of one of the initiators of the fundraising. Instead, he suggested that we should just share the post so that they can trace the donations,” an admin of the page responded through a Facebook message when CDN Digital asked why the post was deleted.

READ: 9 killed after student-loaded dump truck falls off cliff in Boljoon

READ: BOLJOON ACCIDENT UPDATE: List of casualties 

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia earlier said the provincial government will shoulder the hospitalization expenses of the survivors.

“Our social worker is closely coordinating with them to ensure that all their needs will be addressed,” said Wilson Ramos, officer-in-charge of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).

He added that the province will also assign ambulances to ferry those who will be discharged from Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) to their respective homes in Boljoon.

READ: Garcia: Dump trucks should not be used as school buses

Ramon said the financial assistance for the families of the victims is expected to be distributed next week.

“At present, we are still verifying the other names of the passengers of the dump truck. Initially, there were 42 reported passengers. However, the final report said there are 52 individuals on board the vehicle including the driver,” said Ramos.

The families of the nine fatalities will receive P10,000 while each victim will receive P5,000 from the province. / celr