Funds for flood victims in Mindanao released

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Defense Secretary and the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) chair, Gilberto Teodoro Jr., asked provincial and regional officials here to speed up damage assessment in their respective areas ravaged by weeks of flooding and sea surges for past releases of disaster funds to rebuild these damaged areas.

Teodoro said, in coordination with Malacañang, is working double time to provide assistance to the affected families in order to bring them back to their normal lives as soon as possible.

Teodoro, who attended the meeting of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council in Surigao City on Wednesday along with President Arroyo, said that the NDCC will make representation with the Palace for the immediate release of the more than P100 million that the President promised for the calamity-stricken provinces.

“Please submit all the documents to the RDCC, which will in turn, give them to me, para kapag ibinigay ko kay Presidente, hindi na pabalik-balik,” the NDCC chairman told the local and provincial officials.

The incessant rains over the past weeks triggered flooding and sea surges in Misamis Oriental and Occidental in Northern Mindanao and Surigao del Sur and Norte, Dinagat Islands, Agusan del Sur and Norte, in the Caraga region, displacing thousands of residents from their homes.

Moreover, in Dinagat Islands alone, about 2,000 families still remain in evacuation centers.

The same weather-induced calamities also struck several other provinces in Mindanao, including Cagayan de Oro, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur.

During a disaster meeting, local officials pleaded not only for the immediate rehabilitation of bridges along with provincial and municipal roads that have been destroyed by floods, but for agricultural seeds in order for their farmers to start planting all over again.

Teodoro said that aside from the release of certified seeds, which will be done through the Department of Agriculture, the National Food Authority was also tasked to build a warehouse in Dinagat Islands.

Likewise, the National Irrigation Administration was ordered to inspect, and if needed, rehabilitate irrigation systems that were damaged by floods.

Caraga officials said floods badly battered the region, as in Surigao del Norte alone, the damage on secondary roads has been placed at P39 million.

During his visit to Mindanao, Teodoro also brought along with him assorted relief goods for the affected families.