ILOILO City – The city government gave financial assistance yesterday to survivors and families of casualties of three capsized motorboats in the Iloilo Strait on Aug. 3.
Three families of passengers who died received P10,000 each.
Five survivors were given P5,000 each during the turnover of cash aid at city hall. They were assisted immediately because they had to catch their flights back home.
The city government will also be giving P50,000 each to families of city residents who died in the maritime incident.
Survivors who are residents and non-residents of the city will be given P5,000 each.
Mayor Jerry Treñas, during his Monday department heads’ meeting, instructed the immediate release of funds to help the victims.
On behalf of Treñas, who was on official trip to Manila, Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon and the mayor’s Chief of Staff Jonas Bellosillo handed the support.
The Iloilo Baptist Church also gave P5,000 each.
City hall extended assistance to Ilonggos and Filipinos from other parts of country that were here vacationing during the incident.
Guimaras residents affected by the accident were being assisted by the provincial government headed by Gov. Samuel Gumarin.
Survivor Mark Angelo Subaldo of Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat shared he saved his two colleagues off the waters, one still at the Intensive Care Unit but the other expired at the hospital.
Another colleague is still recovering in the island because of trauma of crossing back to the city.
“We are very thankful and we would like to commend the local government units that we were not taken for granted even though we came from different places. We were cared for by the CSWDO (City Social Welfare and Development Office), DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development), and NGOs (nongovernment organizations). They provided us with food and clothing,” Subaldo said.
“Thank you very much for the prayers that gave us strength to accept what happened,” he added.
Subaldo is a coordinator of a school in Dubai, United Arab Emirates who, together with seven teachers and their two husbands, explored Guimaras as part of their annual tour in the Philippines.
Subaldo said they already planned out next year’s trip but that would not be possible anymore.
Responding to the incident over the weekend, the city government also organized an Operations Center through the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO), and deployed ambulances and medical personnel to attend to urgent needs of survivors with augmentation of City Health Office (CHO).
The city’s Jubilee Hall was opened as temporary shelter, with CSWDO distributing food and blankets for survivors. They had setup also an info desk at Parola terminal to cater to stranded passengers.
Relief efforts have been made possible with the help of other offices and government agencies as well as the private sector.
Treñas also sought help from Department of Transportation secretary Arthur Tugade for the deployment of roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) vessels plying Iloilo-Guimaras route Aug. 6 to ferry stranded passengers congesting the port. These included Tristar Shipping and Montenegro Shipping and Ocean Fast Ferries fastcraft.
The mayor also ordered setting up of big tents at the Lapuz ro-ro terminal to protect passengers from heavy rains brought about by southwest moonson or habagat./PN
