TACLOBAN, City, Leyte, Sept. 5 (PNA) — The city government here is eyeing to complete the emergency shelter assistance (ESA) distribution in this city on Sept. 10, heeding orders of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) main office.
Gloria E. Fabrigas, head of the city social welfare development office (CSWDO), said the city government is on track of giving out the PHP500 million funds downloaded from the DSWD for shelter repair.
“The instruction of Secretary (Corazon) Soliman is to complete the distribution of money by Sept. 10 or less than a month after we started the pay out on Aug. 17,” Fabrigas told reporters.
As of this week, more than 10,000 families, whose houses were totally wrecked by the 2013 catastrophe in this city have already received the shelter aid.
About 7,000 families are scheduled to receive the PHP30,000 cash assistance until next week, according to Fabrigas.
Of the PHP500 million funds downloaded fund for ESA in Tacloban, PHP313 million are already distributed to the beneficiaries.
“With the rapid distribution of shelter aid now with the help of Mayor (Alfred) Romualdez, we are hoping that by the 10th of September, the assistance will be given to all the beneficiaries,” Fabrigas added.
One beneficiary Maribel Fabillar, 50, and a resident of the city’s San Jose district, shed tears as she received the grant, which she will used to re-establish her small community store.
“Since we are done fixing our house, I will use this money to recover our livelihood,” the poor widow shared.
Thousands of super typhoon Yolanda survivors have been queuing outside the city’s Convention Center to receive the payout since second week of August.
Each recipient is required to present their voter’s identification card and community tax certificate in order to receive the cash.
Meanwhile, Fabrigas warned beneficiaries not to transact with fixers, who offer services to facilitate the release of their ESA.
“There are some reported cases of (transacting with) fixers while the distribution is going on. With this, police are deployed around the astrodome to assure the security of the place.
The official also advised that even if the ESA distribution is done, families should keep their Greencard with them for it is also their access to receive any help from the government and other non-government organizations. (PNA)
JBP/SQM/BRIGITTE PAULINE MAE TALAÑA AND MA. DENIZA PALMA, LNU INTERNS
