BACOLOD CITY – The city government will provide rice assistance amounting to P40 million to all residents here affected by typhoon “Goring” and the enhanced southwest monsoon or “habagat” last week.

MAYOR Albee Benitez announces rice assistance for residents affected by 'Goring' and the southwest monsoon. (Glazyl Masculino)
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez, in a press briefing on Tuesday, September 5, said that about 600,000 residents were affected and they will receive two kilos of rice each.
Data from the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) said more than 91,000 residents were affected.
However, Benitez said that the data only comprised evacuees as he noted that other residents, who did not stay in evacuation centers, also suffered the same, considering that more than half of the barangays were flooded.
The city declared a state of calamity on August 30 after 33 out of 61 barangays here greatly suffered from the effects of flooding.
“When we declared a state of calamity, it’s not just four barangays affected of flooding, but whole of Bacolod,” the mayor said.
Benitez said that they proposed to extend assistance to every single registered resident of this city. “I feel that the impact of flooding was not just isolated to those who went to evacuation centers,” he added.
Benitez said that the rice assistance would be per person in every household.
He said the list of the recipients will be based on the “cleansed” list of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The budget for the rice assistance will be sourced out from the calamity fund.
Benitez said that they will use schools as distribution centers and the DSSD will facilitate it. Tentative date of the rice distribution is September 9 and 10.
He said that the giving of food packs to affected individuals, especially those who took temporarily shelter in evacuation centers, are ongoing.
Sally Abelarde, DSSD officer-in-charge, said that they are still continuously gathering data of those affected by Goring.
Abelarde said that based on the latest record, 218 houses here were damaged, 32 totally and 186 partially damaged.
She said families or households with partially damaged houses will receive P10,000 cash aid and P15,000 for those with totally damaged houses.
“We are still on process as there are lots of supporting documents we have to comply with the accounting and auditing procedures,” she said.