Danao City residents receive aid anew from Senator Marcos

CEBU, Philippines — Over 2,000 residents of Danao City received financial assistance from Senator Imee Marcos through the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program.

The 2,110 Danao City residents, who got P3,000 each, are the second batch of aid beneficiaries in the city from Senator Marcos through the AICS program. This batch includes trisikad drivers, fishermen, and recipients of the city-led Pabahay Program.

The first batch of assistance was granted to 1,000 Danawanon beneficiaries last September 17, 2023, that included those affected by separate incidents like the Danao City public market fire, a residential fire in Barangay Tuburan Sur, a landslide in Barangay Sabang, and a demolition of houses in Brgy Suba.

During her September 17, 2023 speech in Danao City during the AICS payout, Senator Marcos narrated the friendship between her father, former President Ferdinand Marcos, and former Danao City Mayor Ramonito Durano, whose brotherhood was honed by hardship and by trial.

Senator Marcos narrated that several years have passed, and yet the Marcoses and the Duranos are still bonded by friendship that goes beyond politics and beyond the ordinary conflicts of a single election. “Mula noon, hanggang ngayon, Marcos pa rin ang Danao City!” she added.

Combining the first and second batches, Marcos’ AICS program in Danao City now amounts to a significant P9 million, benefiting more than 3,000 Danao City residents facing challenging circumstances.

Vice Mayor Ramon "Nito" Durano III said that the senator’s continuous aid to the city shows her commitment to public service and her gesture of enduring friendship between the city leaders and her family, which translates friendship beyond politics over the decades.

The AICS serves as a social safety net or a stop-gap mechanism to support the recovery of individuals and families from unexpected crises such as illness or death of a family member, natural and man-made disasters, and other crisis situations.

Under AICS, the DSWD provides medical, burial, educational, transportation, food and other cash assistance to persons or families in crisis situations. — (FREEMAN)