By Minerva Newman
CEBU CITY – The provincial government of Cebu, through Governor Hilario Davide III approved the release of P1 million financial assistance to the local government of the City of Naga, Cebu for search, rescue, retrieval operations and other relief and rehabilitation efforts following a killer landslide last September 20 in Barangay Tinaan.
Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. (left) (Czar Dancel / MANILA BULLETIN)
The provincial government likewise extended a P10,000 financial assistance to the families and relatives of landslide casualties.
A few hours after the tragedy, the Provincial Engineering Office (PEO) dispatched its heavy equipment to the landslide area and rescue teams from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) also responded to the site to help other volunteers in the search and rescue operations.
Two backhoe diggers, two dump trucks, a loader and a self-loader were dispatched to Sitio Sindulan in Barangay Tinaan and more heavy equipment were readily made available for dispatch, said Engr. Jesus Arcenal, chief of the Cebu Provincial Motor pool.
The province and its various department offices provided food packs and addressed the health needs of the survivors.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Cebu Provincial Field office (CPFO) and the local government unit of Naga discussed emergency employment initiatives for the workers affected by the landslide.
DOLE-CPFO head Maria Grace Diaz, in a statement said,
“We are now profiling the affected workers in the six barangays declared under the state of calamity,” said DOLE-CPFO head Maria Grace Diaz.
Diaz added the profiling expects to cover individuals and families residing in Barangays Tina-an, Naalad, Mainit, Pangdan, Cabungahan, and Inoburan.
Tina-an and Naalad were the hardest hit barangays where dozens of houses were destroyed or buried.
DOLE-Central Visayas regional director Atty. Johnson Canete residents from the said barangays are priority for employment assistance. (With a report from Analou De Vera)