Members of the Rotary Club of Bacolod Central trooped to La Castellana town on Saturday, Dec. 15, to deliver over P1 million worth of construction materials and relief goods to evacuees of the Mt. Kanlaon explosion.
La Castellana Mayor Rhummyla Mangilimutan along Rep. Emilio Bernardino Yulo (Neg. Occ., 5th District) received the 2,100 corrugated and plain galvanized iron sheets, along with other relief goods intended for the evacuees, a press release from the club said Sunday.
The aide was primarily funded by Rotary International through a disaster grant to District 3850 amounting to $25,000 for the recovery phase of the first explosion as hundreds of homes had damaged roofing due to the ash fall.
The Rotarians also distributed 200 hygiene kits, 2,400 bottled water, 1,000 boxes of faced masks, 200 sacks of 5-kilo bag rice, hot meals, canned goods, and coffee for the evacuees in the La Castellana National Junior High School.
They also endorsed eight sacks of diapers to the congressional office of Yulo for distribution to various evacuation centers.
Immediate Past District Governor Mate Espina said the grant money was sourced through a disaster fund made available by Rotary International and will also include post disaster medical and surgical missions when the danger warning is lifted.
Rotary Club of Bacolod Central President Rolem Basiya said this is the second time the club assisted evacuees since the first explosion and “we were truly amazed at the resilience of the evacuees, particularly the children, who even helped unload a truck-full of relief goods.”
Rotarians Hargie Tan, Jundad Legislador, Juliana Carbon and spouse Leigh Tan, serve hot meals to evacuees.*
“There is really joy in service,” Basiya added as he thanked Rotarians and other donors who helped the club delivered on its promise to aid the evacuees.
San Miguel Foundation and San Miguel Brewery Bacolod sent 30 boxes of coffee including P27,000 donated by their employees to augment our relief mission, Basiya said, as he also thanked Philippine Airlines for sponsoring the freight of the much needed face masks, and Triumph Hardware for the free delivery assistance of the construction materials.
Rotarians endorsed the construction materials for Mt. Kanlaon evacuees to Rep. Dino Yulo (second from left) and La Castellana Mayor Rhummyla Mangilimutan (fifth from left) on Saturday.*
Rotary Club of Bacolod Central is also grateful to the help extended by the office of Congressman Yulo, AB Designs and Construction, Inc., Alex and Chokie Abelido, Fast Logistics Corporation, Mt. Zion Pharma and Medical Supplies, Nepan Sales, Past President Sandi Pranza, Past President Gard De Erit, and Shine BA Trading.*