The Valenzuela City government donated PHP16 million worth of rice aid to three Mindanao regions that had recently experienced flooding and landslides on Saturday, February 17.
12,800 sacks of rice totaling PHP4.75 million (3,800 sacks) were turned over to Agusan Del Sur, PHP4.25 million (3,400 sacks), and PHP 7 million (5,600 sacks of rice) to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, whose family is from Valenzuela City.
“We saw the extent of damage caused by the calamity. This is just the first batch of assistance, and we will provide them more if they still needed assistance,” he said in an interview.
The senator emphasized that local government units’ ability to pay for infrastructure built to withstand natural disasters, fulfill funding obligations for projects related to preparedness and mitigation, and hire staff to carry out disaster risk reduction and management programs would all significantly improve their efforts to mitigate disasters.
Lemuel Ian Larcia, the mayor of Banaybanay, expressed appreciation for the help.
400 bags of rice were delivered to the town of Davao Oriental.
“Of the 14 barangays in our town, almost all were heavily affected by flooding that occurred last month. Around 10,333 families were affected,” Larcia said in an interview.
Known as the province’s rice granary, spanning about 42,000 hectares of extensively farmed land, he claimed that the majority of their farms had sustained damage that took time to recover.
“It directly affected our farmers and laborers. That’s why we are doing everything to address their needs,” Larcia continuously said.
The remarks made by Mayor Larcia highlight how urgently assistance is needed as well as the continuous attempts to meet the needs of the impacted areas and its people.
Keep Reading: Death toll in Davao de Oro landslide climbs to 90
Leave a Reply