P680M shelter aid given to Ormoc beneficiaries
ORMOC CITY —A total of 50,000 beneficiaries in this city have received emergency shelter assistance, amounting to P679,987,555.25, the last batch of whom got their share on Monday from the city government.
The city has an ESA allocation of P689,369,934.25 for at least 52,000 beneficiaries, but more than P14.7 million were returned to the City Treasurer’s Office because some of the beneficiaries lacked the requirements or were either disqualified or out-of-town.
Regional Director Nestor Ramos of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-8 lauded the city government’s distribution process, which he said was the best practice over others in the region.
The city government provided the beneficiaries an assistance center, manned by city and DSWD-8 personnel, complete with special lanes for persons-with-disabilities, the elderly and pregnant women.
Medical and rescue personnel were also ready with wheelchairs to facilitate the beneficiaries through the special lanes into the distribution counters inside the City Hall.
To avoid middlemen, the city government opted to give cash instead of checks to the beneficiaries, who received P15,713.25 each of those with totally damaged houses, and P10,000 each for those with partially damaged houses, after the Yolanda devastation.
Beneficiaries from the city’s 110 barangays were also clustered into two districts, based on population, with each group served in separate lane from the other.
Police and military personnel were also deployed to help the city’s civil security unit in maintaining order among the beneficiaries queued at the ESA distribution counters.