Yolanda survivors get gov’t aid today

CEBU, Philippines - Seven months since super typhoon Yolanda destroyed their houses, residents in Madridejos town in Bantayan Island will finally get their rehabilitation assistance fund from the national government.

Madridejos Mayor Salvador dela Fuente said a total of P66 million from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Emergency Shelter Assistance fund will be distributed to Yolanda-affected residents today. Dela Fuente said families whose houses were destroyed will get P10,000 each, while those whose house were damaged by Yolanda will get P5,000 from today’s distribution.

Dela Fuente said about 80 percent of the town, including residential areas, have already been restored. But the school buildings are still 50 percent repaired, he admitted. He said he is confident that in two or three months’ time they may see all the classrooms fully restored by non-government organizations like the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. and Caritas, which are doing the rehabilitation works in their schools.

For the moment, like most children in the northern Cebu affected by the typhoon, Madridejos children will have to hold classes in tents, he said.

Dela Fuente also assured his constituents that they still have P180 million in funding from the national government, which they submitted to the Capitol’s Task Force Paglig-on, which later included it in the province’s total rehabilitation budget of P10.2 billion.

The entire budget has already been forwarded to Secretary Panfilo Lacson, head of the rehabilitation and recovery efforts, who will later forward it to the president for approval.   (FREEMAN)