Rebuilding in Zambales to be done on less funds

The relief and rehabilitation committee of the regional disaster coordinating council in Central Luzon last week began a rehabilitation program in Zambales that would be carried out on limited funds.

“We will prioritize the poorest of victims,” Adelina Apostol, assistant regional director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, said during a meeting on May 26. The DSWD is chair of that RDCC committee.

Representatives of the National Food Authority, the departments of education, agriculture, agrarian reform, public works and highways and labor and the Philippine Information Agency attended the meeting.

So far, only three agencies in the committee actually committed to use resources for the program.

The DSWD allotted P1.6 million for “food-for-work” and “cash-for-work” certificates, self-employment assistance and “Tindahan Natin” project for almost 25,000 victims or half of the affected population in Sta. Cruz, the hardest hit town.

The DSWD would also do supplemental feeding, stress-debriefing sessions and repair of 30 daycare centers.

The agency’s help for the repair of 2,988 houses in seven towns will be done through “cash-for-work” for five days at an average of P200 daily, Apostol said.

DA has planned assistance worth P8.2 million for crops and P2.9 million for livestock in Zambales.

DepEd has set aside P43.7 million for the repair of schools in Sta. Cruz, Masinloc and Palauig towns.

Other agencies were still assessing their interventions.

Apostol said the rehabilitation would continue until Sta. Cruz was “back on its feet.” By Tonette Orejas - Inquirer Central Luzon Desk