BALER, Aurora , Philippines – This province maybe typhoon-prone itself and is one of the country’s 20 poorest provinces but still managed to chip in for other richer but calamity-battered provinces.
Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo told The STAR that the provincial government has extended P100,000 in calamity assistance to Isabela province and Botolan, Zambales which were among those hard-hit by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.
The cash donation was coursed through the League of Governors of the Philippines.
Angara-Castillo said it was the Aurora people’s way of expressing gratitude to God for having been spared from the devastation wrought by the twin typhoons.
“We are very thankful to God that there was no casualty of the typhoons in Aurora and except for some felled trees and damaged minor infrastructure, there was no devastating effect in our province,” she said.a
She said that until now, Aurorans could not believe that Ondoy which was predicted to make landfall in Aurora, veered away from its path.
“’Di makapaniwala ang mga tao na dalawang bagyo iniwas kami ng Diyos (People could not believe that God spared us from two typhoons),” she said, recalling that the province used to be the favorite “tourist destination” of typhoons back in 2004. – Manny Galvez