NEWS

By Ivan Rey Tan | Yahoo! News | January 12, 2022

(Photo: Yahoo!)

THE Cebu Provincial Government inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with over 40 hardware stores and general merchandisers who will supply the construction materials and other essential commodities for the victims of Typhoon Odette (Rai).

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia led the MOA signing together with Provincial Board Member Glenn Anthony Soco, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Provincial Director Rose Mae Quiñanola, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Office Cebu Director Jose Cleo Cary Colis and the representatives of partner-merchants Wednesday, January 12, 2022 at the Cebu Provincial Capitol.

Garcia previously announced that instead of giving financial assistance, the province will distribute digital cards with a fixed amount of P5,000 that beneficiaries can redeem to purchase materials and other basic necessities.

According to Garcia, over 90,000 beneficiaries from the different local government units in the province have already been identified.

Garcia clarified that these are those whose houses have been totally destroyed by the typhoon since the inclusion of partially damaged will overwhelm the budget of the province.

“Our intention is to help those who really lost their houses so that they can slowly rebuild their homes and rebuild their lives,” Garcia said in Cebuano.

The governor said that by following this process, the purchase of unnecessary products like alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, and cosmetics will be avoided.

Meanwhile, one supplier of Galvanized Iron (GI) Sheets was lambasted by Garcia after refusing to release supplies to the provincial government.

Garcia said that this particular supplier required the province to pay first which is contrary to what they have agreed during their initial meeting.

The governor further stated that she has already asked DTI to do something about the matter.

Source: Yahoo! News