TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines- Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba said the provincial government is still following up the funds for the repair of school buildings destroyed by super typhoon Lawin last year.
In the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council meeting on Tuesday, October 10, Governor Mamba said the National Disaster Coordinating Council “has not yet given any of the funds at this time, except for [constructing] temporary school buildings.”
The governor also said that Cagayan has “not fully recovered” as the provincial government is still gradually giving galvanized iron sheets to affected families. He also noted that emergency shelter assistance has also yet to be fully given.
More than 14,000 damaged houses were each entitled P30,000. Mamba said only P5,000 of the assistance have been given while the remaining P25,000 is still ongoing.
Mamba said it also “took a while” for the province to purchase carpentry tools worth P29 million in total. These will be given to all 5,740 puroks in the province through the supervision of Provincial Office for People Empowerment (POPE). The governor stated that they are trying to redeploy all our resources in these areas.
In the meeting, he also said he will strengthen Task Force Lingkod Bayan Quick Response Team (QRT) by constructing buildings which will be open 24/7. The provincial government’s property in Anquiray, Amulung is eyed as a site for the QRT building.
Meanwhile, the Governor revealed that the proposed 2018 budget amounts to P3.5 billion, instead of a P2.4 billion supplemental budget which he said resulted from the provincial board’s “non-approval” of the 2017 budget.
Mamba said that, under the 2018 budget, they are also going to develop the province’s property in Anquiray, Amulung and Ballesteros.
He once again jabbed “corrupt” mayors and other politicians, and maintained that he does not accept bribes from jueteng or any illegal activities.
“Hindi lilinis ang mga munisipyo, ang siyudad, ang mga barangay, kung hindi lilinis ang probinsya,” he said. Northernforum.net
