BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The provincial government of Negros Occidental has received P131-million worth of financial assistance for victims of super typhoon “Odette”.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the National Housing Authority (NHA) handed over P90 million to be used for the purchase of house building materials, while the Bureau of Treasure (BTr) also released P41 million.
Lacson is now waiting for the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to give him the authority to sign a memorandum of agreement with NHA.
As for the P41 million from the BTr, Lacson said the provincial government is waiting for guidelines on how this should be spent.
Last week, the Department of Budget and Management released an initial P1 billion in cash assistance for local government units (LGUs) battered by the typhoon.
The total funding requirement came from the Fiscal Year 2021 Contingent Fund and will be directly released by the BTr to the concerned LGUs through authorized government servicing banks.
“To President Rodrigo Duterte and the NHA, thank you for your timely response to the dire need of our people to restore their homes,” Lacson said.
He noted that almost two weeks after “Odette” struck, the province urgently needed to rebuild 190,868 partially damaged houses and 65,871 totally destroyed dwellings.
“For many of the displaced Negrense families, the trauma and suffering is unbearable. It is extremely taxing for families to try rebuilding their homes while starving and thirsty,” Lacson said.
The assistance was turned over by NHA-Western Visayas Chief Corporate Attorney John Leo Solinap and Negros Occidental District Officer-in-Charge Liezl Miquit.
Solinap said through the Emergency Housing Assistance Program, NHA aims to assist typhoon-affected residents of Negros Occidental in the aspect of recovery and rebuilding.
He urged the concerned city and municipal mayors to continue enhancing their coordination and put in place a systematic distribution of aid to ensure that everyone affected will be able to receive the assistance they need./PN
