Cebu City halts cash aid distribution for Odette victims due to Comelec ban

Lawyer Gerry Carillo, chairperson Cebu City Disaster Council, says that they have already submitted a petition to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) appealing to poll body to allow the distribution of financial aid to typhoon Odette-affected victims to continue despite the Comelec ban on this. | Screen grab from Lawyer Carillo’s interview

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Some Typhoon Odette victims in Cebu City may have to wait for some time to get their financial assistance. 

The Comission in Elections (Comelec) has disallowed the release of the financial assistance during the campaign period. 

However, the Cebu City government is seeking an exemption from Comelec to allow them to distribute the financial aid for Typhoon Odette victims. 

Lawyer Gerry Carillo, chairperson of the City Disaster Council, said that he was tasked by Mayor Michael Rama to personally submit a petition for the exception because the Comelec had banned any financial distribution during the campaign season up to the elections on May 9. 

“We have been informed that distribution of financial assistance has been disallowed because of the election. Mohangyo mi nga atong mga cash assistance for Odette, macontinue (We will appeal to the Comelec that our cash assistance for Odette will be continued),” he said. 

The city government is seeking this extension because the victims have been waiting for over three months now for the financial aid. 

The challenges along the way including the need to obligate the budget for 2022 has already caused much delay for the distribution. 

Carillo said the city simply could not wait for the elections to end because by then the beneficiaries would have waited six months. 

The Comelec in Central Visayas already gave the city a verbal go signal for the assistance taking into consideration the post-Odette situation. 

However, Carillo said the mayor wanted to go through the proper process of seeking the exemption to avoid being flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA). 

“Cebu is unique because we have been struck by Odette. The distribution is continuous, it has long been started unya naputol lang ni tungod sa (Comelec) prohibition (and this was discontinued because of the (Comelec) prohibition,” he said. 

Carillo said once the city gets the exemption, the distribution will resume. 

The Comelec will be imposing regulations on the distribution including the disallowing of candidates to be present during the financial aid distribution. 

The city must also declare to COA the amount of funds being released at each distribution and these must be accounted properly.

“We will comply,” Carillo assured. 

The city has temporarily stopped the distribution, but so far, more or less P300 million has already been released or in the process of being released to the beneficiaries.

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