Twenty-two families displaced by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon in December are getting a fresh start with P10,000 each in financial assistance from the Bago City government.
Mayor Marina “Mayette” Javellana-Yao led the distribution of the aid on Thursday, August 14, at the Payag sang Kapag-on Village in Barangay Napoles, where the 22 families have been staying for months.
The financial aid, sourced from the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Fund, is part of a larger effort to help them return home.
“Just to let them know that our local government will not abandon them,” Javellana-Yao said.
The families are scheduled to return to their homes in Purok Manokan, Barangay Ilijan, on Saturday, August 16.
The city government will also provide roofs and other housing materials to assist the evacuees reconstruct their homes.
In a collaborative effort dubbed “bayanihan,” the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) and the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), along with other agencies, will help the families move back and deliver the housing materials and food packages.
“I really like that everyone is helping each other in a heroic kind of sharing our little help,” the mayor said, expressing gratitude to the many agencies joining the effort.
The evacuees in turn thanked the mayor for the help given them.*