DSWD gives Madridejos town P71M

CEBU, Philippines - The municipality of Madridejos on Bantayan Island, one of the areas in northern Cebu affected by super typhoon Yolanda, received over P71 million from the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office-7 for the town’s Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) and Cash for Work (CFW) Program.

The initial financial assistance was part of the agency’s rehabilitation efforts for typhoon Yolanda-hit areas in Northern Cebu.

DSWD-7, through its Regional Director Mercedita Jabagat, turned over the amount to Madridejos Mayor Salvador dela Fuente on June 2  at the regional office in Cebu City.

Of the P71,712,500 total amount released, P66,425,000 will go to ESA while the rest are for the CFW program benefiting 1,250 individuals.

CFW provides cash to the families affected by the disaster in exchange for their services and participation in the rehabilitation efforts. Under the program, the beneficiaries can work for 15 days and will get the minimum wage by clearing the debris, doing repair works, planting trees and mangroves, restoring some facilities and other infrastructure related works.

ESA, on the other hand, provides either financial assistance or shelter materials for the repair of houses that were either totally or partially damaged.  Madridejos has 5,930 houses identified as totally damaged while 1,425 are partially destroyed.

Those families with totally damaged houses will receive P10,000 each while P5,000 will be given to those with partially damaged houses.

Meanwhile, DSWD-7 is currently processing the assistance for beneficiary local government units  that have completed and submitted the required documents.

Documents needed for the release of such funds include project proposal, list of beneficiaries, memorandum of agreement, rehabilitation plan, terminal report, liquidation documents of previous cash advances and Sangguniang Bayan resolution.

Madridejos was among the 16 towns in northern Cebu that suffered the most from typhoon Yolanda’s wrath last year affecting more than 90 percent of its total residence.  (FREEMAN)