Metro mayors ‘adopt’ typhoon-hit areas

MANILA, Philippines - To speed up the distribution of relief goods, the Metro Manila Council (MMC) – the policy-making arm of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority – has passed a resolution enabling the MMDA and 11 cities in Metro Manila to “adopt” towns and cities in provinces hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda, an official said yesterday.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the Metro Manila mayors, who compose the MMC, can help restore law and order in typhoon-damaged towns and cities.

“What these badly damaged LGUs (local government units) need is governance. It may be because even local officials were affected by the calamity, or they were just simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of the disaster. It is time that we in Metro Manila come in and help them run their localities,” Tolentino said.

The mayors agreed to the plan and passed a resolution in an emergency meeting held Wednesday. The resolution provides that each of Metro Manila’s 16 cities and one municipality will adopt at least two of the worst hit areas and help them recover.

“It will be up to the sponsoring Metro Manila LGU to implement programs or mechanisms including technical and engineering experts with local government expertise that will facilitate the recovery of their adopted localities and extend the much needed assistance to the displaced residents,” Tolentino said.

Quezon City has adopted Palompon, Tolosa, and Santa Fe in Leyte; Pasig – Mayorga, Palo, Barotac Viejo and Nuevo and Dumangas in Iloilo; Mandaluyong – Isabel and Tanauan, Leyte; Marikina – Hernani and Lorente, Eastern Samar; San Juan – Ormoc City and Albuera, Leyte; Taguig – Gen. McArthur, Guiuan, Salcedo, Mercedes and Quinapondan in Eastern Samar; Las Piñas – Julita and Dulag, Leyte; Caloocan – Javier, McArthur and La Paz in Leyte; Malabon – Bogo, Cebu; Navotas – Lawaan and Giporlos, Eastern Samar; and Valenzuela – Basey and Marabut in Western Samar.

The MMDA has adopted Coron, Palawan and Sulat town in Eastern Samar.

SC, DOJ join relief efforts

Members of the judiciary and prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) have started their respective relief operations for the typhoon victims.

The Supreme Court, through the office of Associate Justice Jose Mendoza, has initiated a campaign for people to give bottles of water, which will be turned over to Yolanda victims, SC spokesman Theodore Te said.

DOJ prosecutors have contributed cash and relief goods for their colleagues in Leyte and Samar, said Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, head of the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service.

A support staff and a fiscal’s wife were among those killed in the storm surge, he said.

DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima flew to Tacloban City yesterday to supervise the National Bureau of Investigaton forensic experts tasked to identify casualties and to do her share of "accessing and delivering aid to the hungry and helpless."

She said she did this on her own, not on orders of President Aquino.

CSC grants emergency leave

Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) said government workers directly affected by Yolanda can avail themselves of a five-day special emergency leave.

CSC chairman Francisco Duque III said yesterday that the special emergency leave, which may be taken for five straight working days or on a staggered basis, will not be deducted from the employee’s leave credits.

The special leave must be availed of within 30 days since the government declared the area under a state of calamity. – Mike Frialde, Edu Punay, Michael Punongbayan