Cebu City to give P5M financial aid to Taal Volcano victims

Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella visits the evacuation center in Batangas. | Photo courtesy of Cebu City Public Information Office

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella is planning to give financial aid to Batangas for the victims of the Taal Volcano eruption. 

In a phone interview with CDN Digital, Labella said he has seen the needs of the 14 towns and cities in Batangas gravely affected by the eruption of the volcano on January 12, 2020. 

Labella, who is also the president of the League of Cities in the Philippines, was in Batangas on Thursday, January 23, 2020, to check on the damage done by the eruption. 

He said that many of the affected cities have asked help for the relief of the 200,000 evacuees. These include water, food, hygiene kits, and clothes. 

With this, Cebu City will be giving a financial aid amounting to P5 million to the province of Batangas, which has the most affected areas.

“We have enough funds from our calamity funds. The P5 million will be given in cash to Batangas, but they will provide a liquidation on how they spend the money,” said Labella. 

Unlike in the Mindanao quake, when Cebu City sent goods to the area, Labella said it would not be practical to send goods from Cebu to Batangas because it would be more expensive considering the distance from Cebu to Batangas. 

The mayor said the local government units can get their needs from Metro Manila, which is closer and the delivery will not be as expensive. 

When Labella comes home to Cebu on Friday, January 24, 2020, he said he will immediately ask the Cebu City Council to pass a resolution to provide the financial assistance to Taal. 

The City Council will need to approve the proposal before any donation or financial assistance can be released by the city’s treasury. /bmjo