The League of Cities of the Philippines is leading the “aggressive fund-raising campaign” to help its member-cities hit by super typhoon “Rolly” and typhoons “Quinta” and “Ulysses.”
“The key is in the campaign,” Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who is also the national presiden of LCP, said during an online meeting Monday, November 23, of the LCP Special Committee for Typhoon Ulysses where they initiated a fund-raising campaign to help member-cities affected by the recent calamities, a press release from his office said Tuesday, November 24.
Leonardia said they will focus their fund-raising campaign among cities in the Visayas, Mindanao, and some parts of Luzon, which were not affected by the recent typhoons.
“There are a lot of unaffected cities that can help. We can also appeal to compassionate individuals and those people who make it their personal mission to help those in need of assistance,” Leonardia said.
The LCP Special Committee aims to raise enough funds by December 11, to be presented to the LCP board for a decision on how it is to be distributed.
In her report, LCP Secretariat executive director Shereen Gail Yu-Pamintuan said President Rodrigo Duterte had placed 74 cities under a state of calamity.
At least 59 cities were hit by Typhoon “Ulysses,” while 17 cities were “triple-hit” by Typhoons “Quinta,” “Rolly,” and “Ulysses,” she added.
Mayor Noel Rosal of Legazpi City suggested that the beneficiaries of the campaign should be the cities with the highest number of displaced families.
Mayor Arnan Panaligan of Calapan City, whose city was not struck by the recent typhoons, said, cities spared from these calamities should have a sense of generosity to help other cities hit by these typhoons, and heed the LCP call for help.
The LCP Special Committee for Typhoon “Ulysses” is set to ask help from their vice presidents for Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and the National Capital Region (NCR) in contacting fellow mayors around the Philippines. The rest will contact the regional representatives for assistance.
The special committee is composed of LCP secretary-general Mayor Arnan Panaligan of Calapan City as chairperson, with members: LCP treasurer Mayor Antonio Ferrer of General Trias City; Mayor Noel Rosal of Legazpi City, Focal Mayor for Environment, Climate Change and DRRM Mayor Noel Rosal of Legazpi City; and Atty. Shereen Gail Yu-Pamintuan, executive director of the LCP Secretariat.
Other members are Ilyne Rose De Castro, LCP deputy director for Admin and Finance; and Ma. Veronica Hitosis, LCP deputy director for Policy, Programs, and Projects.*