Celso distributes cash aid to fire victims
Mayor Celso Lobregat Tuesday afternoon distributes cash assistance a victim of a fire incident in Manicahan last Dec. 31. Assisting the mayor is City Social Welfare Officer Francisco Barredo. (JOEY BAUTISTA)
As part of the continuing relief assistance program of the city government, Mayor Celso Lobregat yesterday distributed cash assistance amounting to almost P150,000 to families affected by conflagration in Manicahan and Sta. Maria that occurred separately last month.
Some 35 families—28 of them victims of the fire in Brillantes Drive in Sta. Maria last Dec. 10 and 7 victims of the conflagration in Manicahan last Dec. 23.
Mayor Lobregat during the distribution rites held at the City Hall conference room yesterday afternoon said the cash aid is part of the relief assistance program of the city government and is intended to help alleviate the condition of the fire victims.
Yearly, the city government allocates funds for the grant of cash assistance to victims of calamities such as fire and other man-made or natural disasters.
“The city government continues to accelerate the delivery of basic services to our people because of our sound fiscal condition”, the mayor emphasized.
Victims whose houses were totally razed to the ground received P5,000 cash assistance each; victims whose houses with partially damaged as well as house sharers and house renters received P3,000 each while house boarders received P1,500 each.
Assisting the mayor during the distribution were City Social Welfare Officer Francisco Barredo and staff and representatives from the City Treasurer’s Office.
Accompanying the fire victims to City Hall to receive their cash assistance were Barangay chairman Editha Casino of Manicahan and some barangay officials from Sta. Maria field social workers.
Zamboanga is one of the cities with best practices in social services, in fact, Mayor Lobregat has been cited for the second straight year in 2009 as the most outstanding mayor for exemplary performance of social welfare and development programs by the Association of Local Social Welfare and Development Officers of the Philippines (ALSWDOP).