People wait to get their Odette financial assistance at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. CDN Digital photo | Mary Rose Sagarino
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu—Several families in Mandaue City who were affected by super typhoon Odette received their financial assistance from the Mandaue City government starting last Monday, June 13, 2022.
Families with totally damaged homes received P5,000 while those with partially damaged homes got P3,000.
The simultaneous distribution ended Wednesday, June 15, for several barangays. The distribution of some barangays such as Umapad, Tipolo, Paknaan, Maguikay, Looc, and Cubacub will end on Friday, June 17, as they have more beneficiaries.
The distribution of Odette assistance for residents of Barangays Cambaro and Centro were held at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex while the distribution for other barangays in Mandaue was conducted at their respective gymnasiums.
Assistant City Treasurer Julia Ballesteros said there were around 49,000 beneficiaries of the aid. They were those who did not receive the Odette financial assistance from the national government.
The city government allocated about P160 million for this financial assistance.
Elena Otarra, 82 years old from barangay Cambaro and one of the beneficiaries, said the roof of their house was blown away by super typhoon Odette that hit Cebu in December 2021.
She said she was happy that she received the assistance even though it was very delayed. She said she will use the money to buy materials to repair their roof.
“Gipalitan ra namo’g pangtabil-tabil antos mi’g piksan (sa uwan). Karun kana (kwarta) palitan na namo og sin mao na nalipay mi naabot, sige mig paabot dugay kaayo,” said Otarra.
(We just bought things to temporarily patch it up. We endured getting wet whenever it rained. Now, we can buy metal roofing that’s why we are happy. We waited a long time for this.)
The assistance was not distributed right away because of the Comelec ban, prohibiting local government units on spending public funds for 45 days ahead of the May 9 elections.
Ballesteros said for those who will not able to claim their assistance during the distribution, they may claim it at the City Treasurer’s Office only on June 22.
It may be forfeited if not claimed as they need to liquidate it and will be making another cash-out for the fuel subsidy for legitimate tricycle drivers and operators.
/bmjo
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