Residents of 3 island-barangays in Antique affected by oil slick get P42.78-M aid from DSWD
By Tara Yap
ILOILO CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-6 (Western Visayas) has extended P42.78 million in aid to residents affected by the oil slick in an island town in Antique province.
Claud Jan Marquez of the DSWD-6 Disaster Response Management Section said the assistance for people living in three island-barangays of Caluya was composed of financial and food packs.
Bulk of the assistance was in cash, which, as of Wednesday, March 29, has reached P38.15 million and covers three DSWD programs – emergency cash transfer (ECT), cash for work (CFW) and aid in crisis situation (AICS).
“The amount will rise as we still have not finished the distribution to our target beneficiaries,” Marquez said.
The DSWD-6 also released 8,300 food packs worth P4.38 million and 85 non-food items worth P189,150.
A total of 7,195 families or 27,145 persons were affected by the oil slick from the sunken tanker M/T Princess Empress in four barangays in Caluta – Alegria, Semirara, Sibolo, and Tinogbok.
M/T Princess Empress carrying 800,000 liters of oil sank off the coast of Oriental Mindoro late February.
About 1,000 persons in Barangays Semirara, Sibolo, and Tambak were affected by the oil slick that reached the coastal areas of Caluya last Friday, March 24.