More areas hit by the long dry spell will get financial assistance from the Davao City government after the City Council approved on Tuesday the P7.8 million aid to three provinces, 20 municipalities, and one city.
Each recipient-province will receive P1 million while each town will get P300,000 and P500,000 for the city.
Alfredo Baloran, the chief of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO), said the city will give the financial assistance to the Philippine National Red Cross and not to the local government units because of the election ban.
âWe do not give the money to the Local Government Unit, because there is an election ban, we course it through the Red Cross,â Baloran said.
Earlier, the city government extended P3.4 million in financial aid to eight municipalities in the Visayas and Luzon which were also hit by the drought.
âMayor Inday Sara Duterte once told me that we should not worry if we keep on extending help to calamity-affected municipalities.
The city has enough money for our disaster operations and we should keep on helping those who are in need,â Baloran said.
Unlike other cities, Baloran said Davao is fortunate for it is not seriously affected by the drought.
Baloran assured city residents the DRRMO is monitoring the situation in the city, particularly in the agricultural areas, to help farmers in case they will be affected by the extreme weather disturbance like the El Niño. CIO
