Government buildings and even lampposts in Medellin town, northern Cebu were painted with pastel colors of blue, green, orange, yellow and purple.
Mayor Ricardo Ramirez said this was his way of delivering a message against the “political discrimination” from the incumbent administration in the province after the town was devastated by supertyphoon Yolanda on November 8, 2013.
“I wanted to make a statement that we managed to surpass the difficulties brought by supertyphoon Yolanda mostly from our own efforts,” he said.
Ramirez said having brightly painted structures is intended to brighten up the mood of his constituents amid the difficulties they had to endure because of Yolanda.
“It’s like saying that despite the hardships, we still rose to the occasion. We were the first (typhoon-affected) town to rise to its feet,” he said.
Delays
Medellin town located about 120 kilometers north of Cebu City was among the 15 towns and one city that were badly hit by Yolanda.
Supertyphoon Yolanda damaged the municipal building, sports complex, two public markets – the Medellin and the Kawit public markets. About 90 percent of houses in their 19 barangays were left roofless while it left three persons dead.
Ramirez complained of delays in the release of food and cash assistance both from the Cebu provincial government and the national government.
Not wanting to wait any longer, Ramirez said, he decided to proceed with the repair of damaged government infrastructure using the close to P5 million which they raised from donations and the municipal government’s own money.
Of the allocation, Ramirez said P400,000 was spent on the repair of their damaged municipal building.
Multi-colored
Ramirez said the P5 million cash assistance from the national government intended for the repair of damaged government structures only came in June last year after they completed the repairs.
He decided then to use the P5 million allocation for the repainting of all government buildings and facilities and for the purchase of bleachers for their sports center.
The municipal government’s painter started working on their “Hideaway,” a public beach resort located in barangay Tindog.
Cottages and the resort’s 500 meter bamboo walkway were painted with pastel colors.
Ramirez said the municipal hall, the nearby sports center and the light posts at the railings of the public plaza were likewise painted blue, green, orange, yellow and purple.
“I posted the new look of the municipal hall in the town’s Facebook account and the people didn’t complain,” Ramirez said.
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