SUNSTAR Sunday, January 4, 2015 Binay Heads South Cebu CEBU - Vice President Jejomar Binay will visit Carcar City and three towns in southern Cebu today to lead relief operations for survivors of tropical storm Seniang. Binay is scheduled to visit Ronda at 8:20 a.m., Dumanjug at 11:40 a.m., Sibonga at 2 p.m. and Carcar City at 4 p.m. The vice president will reportedly meet with Ronda officials, led by Mayor Mariano Blanco III, and Dumanjug authorities under Mayor Nelson Garcia. At least 14 people died in Ronda town after a flash flood caused by Seniang swept them away. Two others remain missing. The storm killed at least 17 in Cebu alone. It also caused Dumlog Bridge in Sibonga town to collapse and a part of the Transcentral Highway in Balamban to give way. The Capitol has sent a dump truck with potable water to Alcantara and Ronda towns to augment a water filtration facility installed there, said Provincial General Social Welfare Office (PGSO) head Siegfred Sepe. Jules Regner, after inspecting typhoon-affected towns, said he saw empty pails and drums lined up along the roadside from Ronda to Alcantara towns, waiting for water to be delivered. Regner is the public information officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO). Help, pledges The Mandaue City Government turned over relief goods to Ronda last Friday. Felix Suico, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), went to Ronda to hand over 50 sacks of rice, 50 boxes of assorted canned goods and 50 boxes of noodles. Suico said they turned over the goods to Ronda Mayor Mariano Blanco III. The Cebu City Government earlier pledged P300,000 in cash aid to the badly hit towns of Ronda, Sibonga and Alcantara. It also promised to send more heavy equipment for the clearing operations. Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it continued its relief operations to help the survivors in Alcantara, Ronda, Dumanjug and Barili. Jenny Abastillas of DSWD 7 said that the Cebu Provincial Social Welfare Office has pulled out the relief goods from its repacking area in the Cebu International Convention Center. Seniang’s toll At least 21 were killed and 12 others were injured in Central Visayas in the wake of Seniang, according to the Office of Civil Defense 7. Nationwide, the storm killed at least 55 persons in five regions, said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in its report yesterday. Seniang also caused 41 injuries and left eight others still missing. It triggered 45 incidents of floods, landslides and maritime accidents. As of yesterday, 25 roads and 19 bridges remained impassable in Region 7 and four other regions. About P29.56 million in assistance has so far been provided. To help the storm’s survivors cope with the lack of water, PDRRMO head Baltazar Tribunalo and his personnel installed a water filtration system, donated by the Lutheran Church, in Barangay Liboo, Ronda last Friday. The water filtration system will serve the neighboring mountain barangays of Tupas, Ilaya and Palanas. Sepe said he already sent a dump truck with a full 1,000-liter tank to Ronda and Alcantara. The team was supposed to get water from Moalboal and deliver it to barangays along its way. Roles In Mandaue City, rains brought by Seniang caused a landslide that damaged two houses in a hillside subdivision in Barangay Casili last Friday afternoon. Suico said he advised owners of five houses in Casili Hills Subdivision to temporarily move to safer ground. It is in Mandaue where the hub of DSWD’s relief operation is based, specifically in the convention center it co-owns with the Province. But while relief goods are already available, DSWD 7 Assistant Director Shalaine Maria Lucero made it clear that the DSWD’s role is to augment what local government units (LGUs) have prepared. The LGU is always the first responder in calamities, as provided for by law, Lucero pointed out. If the LGU runs out of relief goods, the Provincial Government will augment them. If both run out of supply, the National Government, through DSWD, will step in. Ask for help So far, Abastillas of the DSWD said that the Municipality of Alcantara has requested 579 family food packs. Barili got 1,917 family food packs while Dumanjug was given 1,000, both last Dec. 30. Abastillas added that DSWD 7 will give financial assistance to the families whose members died during flash flood that occurred in Ronda and other areas at the height of Seniang. “Usually, our assistance ranges from P5,000 to P10,000,” Abastillas said. Claimants need to present a death certificate. The DSWD 7 said it also delivered 50 boxes of ready-to-eat canned food and 200 boxes of high-energy biscuits to Bohol Province, which declared a state of calamity last Dec. 30, on account of Seniang. sunstar.ph/cebu/local-news/2015/01/04/binay-heads-south-cebu-384841
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 13:57:09 +0000