Pending council approval: Cebu City to give P7M aid to Kanlaon-affected areas

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has approved the P7 million financial assistance for the local government units (LGU) affected by the eruption of Mount Kanlaon in Negros Oriental.

This was announced by Garcia in a press conference yesterday, June 10, 2024.

According to Garcia, he approved this following the recommendation of a team from the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) that was deployed to assess the situation in the city of Canlaon.

But Garcia said this would have to be approved by the Cebu City Council through a special session.

The P7 million financial assistance will be extended to the municipalities of Bago, La Carlota, La Castellana, Moises Padilla, and Pontevedra, with P1 million each, while the City of Canlaon will get P2 million.

“This is a resolution coming from the disaster council which I already signed and approved. Now padung na ni sa Cebu City Council for their approval,” said Garcia.

Garcia added that should the funds be approved, the sum will be charged to the city’s disaster fund through the endorsement of Councilor Joel Garganera, who is the chairman of the Committee on Disaster of the city council.

Although the initial amount has already been established, Garcia said that there is a possibility that the amount could still be changed once the proposal reaches the legislative body.

“It can go up, it can go down (amount), depending on the city council,” said Garcia.

“Very much important (to extend aid), in times of calamities kinahanglan mutabang gyud ta labi na nga mga silingan nato, without expecting anything in return,” he added.

Garcia said he will personally hand the financial aid to the affected LGUs should it be approved.

The acting mayor said he would have to call for the special session first for the deliberation and approval of the requested funds, but he hopes to personally go to Canlaon City and the other towns this weekend.

He directed acting City Administrator, lawyer Christine Joyce Batucan, to issue a memorandum to request for the special session since there will be no regular session this Wednesday due to the Independence Day celebration.

“It can be an online session, kay dinali-an ni,” he said.

Aside from the financial assistance, Garcia said that there is a CDRRMO team on standby that could be augmented to Canlaon City and the other towns should there be a need to.

In line with this, he directed CDRRMO head Harold Alcontin to be on standby for the Canlaon Watch, which is now in coordination with the LGU of Canlaon. — (FREEMAN)