DAVAO CITY — Governor Edwin Jubahib thanked the government of the United States (U.S.) for helping the communities in Davao del Norte who suffered due to the series of flooding and landslides past two months.
The governor who welcomed the officials and representatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said the support is a big lead to the families who are still recovering their losses from the calamities which ranges from livelihood, agricultural goods, houses to personal effects.
“It really has a big impact… to the families affected by the flooding… all those families really need assistance for their recovery.” the governor told the USAID delegation, headed by Regional Humanitarian Director Ben Hemingway.
USAID top officials brought he goods together with officials from the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the Action Against Hunger during the visit to the provincial government on Monday, to determine the needs of the flood victims to completely recover from the disaster.
Davao del Norte is included in the nearly Php70 million humanitarian aid that the US government will provide, through the USAID, to communities affected by the recent severe flooding and landslides in the Davao region caused by the shear line and the trough during the last two months.
Hemingway said the new funding will provide emergency food, shelter, water, sanitation, and essential hygiene items to support disaster-affected communities in Davao del Norte, Davao de Oro, and Davao City.
“We will ensure that affected families have access to food, water, sanitation facility, livelihood restoration, and emergency shelter… to help them recover, return to their homes, reestablish their lives and livelihood and hopefully become more resilient to predictable disasters like this in the future,” he said.
Jonas Tetangco, Country Representative of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), bared that part of the fund is allocated for cash assistance of P10,000 each for 2,000 families in Davao del Norte.
Jubahib assured his office will see to it that the most-affected poorest families are the ones who will really receive the cash assistance.
The governor bared the provincial government is now on its third round of relief distribution but he continues to appeal for more humanitarian assistance, as it would take around seven months for the almost 700,000 affected individuals to fully recover.
“Nakita nato nga dili pa jud kini igo… ang recovery time nga akong gi-estimate is anaa sa seven months ((We noticed it is not enough… the recovery time as I estimated will last up to seven months).
