The giant Christmas tree at the Fuente Rotunda in uptown Cebu City is simply no match for the wrath of super typhoon Odette. The strongest typhoon to hit Cebu in years has also left 13 people dead as of the last count. | CDND File photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — More than a month has passed since super typhoon Odette hit Cebu City and parts of the island province.
But to date, typhoon victims coming from 62 barangays in Cebu City are yet to receive the P5, 000 cash aid that was promised by City Hall to help them rebuild their badly damaged homes. And they are now beginning to ask why?
Portia Basmayor, head of the city’s Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS), explained that the accounting office is still in the process of obligating the allocation that will be sourced from the 2021 budget.
Under the law, unused governments funds will be reverted to the general funds at the end of the calendar year.
Basmayor said the accounting office is now in the process of obligating the allocation so it can already be disbursed to its intended recipients and to prevent this from being reverted to the general funds.
The DSWS head is appealing for patience from the typhoon victims as the city government is working “double time” to facilitate the release the cash aid as soon as possible.
The city government, Basmayor said, has so far managed to release the cash aid of Odette victims coming from 18 of the city’s 80 barangays.
“Naa na tay 18 ka barangays nga nadistribute-an, mga 7,000 plus ka structure owners. Ang the rest gitrabaho na pagayo, gi obligate pa siya,” said Basmayor.
Basmayor said they will facilitate the immediate release of the cash aid to beneficiaries from the 62 other barangays as soon as the appropriation process is completed.
She said that they now have a list of the qualified beneficiaries based on the list that they received from the concerned barangays.
According to their schedule, they hope to release cash aid to beneficiaries coming from 14 of the 62 barangays before the end of the month.
Those who can no longer be accommodated by the city, will get their P5, 000 cash aid from the National Housing Authority and the Department of Interior and Local Government.
Basmayor said that so far, NHA already released P10 million in assistance to 2, 000 structure owners. Additional funding is expected to be released soon since the city submitted a list of names of 16, 000 structure owners to the national government agency.
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