Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Tingog party-list representatives have facilitated the release of P33 million worth of assistance to the province of Albay in cash and in kind as increased activity at Mayon Volcano has forced the evacuation of residents living in the permanent danger zone.
Along with party-list Reps. Yedda Marie Romualdez and Jude Acidre, Romualdez on Sunday said P1 million worth of assistance was allocated to each of the three districts of Albay.
The affected areas are the 1st District under Rep. Edcel Lagman, 2nd District under Rep. Joey Salceda, and 3rd District under Rep. Fernando Cabredo.
The assistance from the Speaker’s office will be coursed through their respective offices.
“The members of the House of Representatives are one with the people of Albay during this challenging time. Mayon Volcano’s eruption is something that we cannot stop, but so is showing malasakit to our countrymen when difficulties arise. Together, we will ride out this calamity,” he said.
The P1 million in assistance for each of the districts is broken down into P500,000 in cash and P500,000 worth of relief packs from Romualdez’s personal disaster response fund.
Before dawn Sunday, hundreds of volunteers trooped toPureGold-Embarkadero in Legazpi, Albay to repack and prepare relief goods for the displaced families.
About 1,420 relief packs for each district were readied for distribution.
The Speaker’s office also coordinated with the Department of SocialWelfare and Development under Secretary Rex Gatchalian so that P10million worth of assistance would be released to each district through the agency’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program.
The P500,000 cash assistance will be turned over to each of the three districts on Monday. The relief packs will be distributed soon after.