City Council starts hearing bloated calamity report

By Maricar M. Calubiran

The Sangguniang Panglungsod will start its investigation on the questionable report submitted by the City Social Welfare and Development Office regarding the number of affected families in the recent flood in Jaro and La Paz districts.

Councilor Merci Drilon-Garcia

Councilor Merci Drilon-Garcia, chair of the committee on social services and welfare said among those who were called to appear in today’s investigation are CSWD Officer Claire Dignadice, different barangay captains, police personnel and the chair of the City Disaster Coordinating Council.

Garcia said her committee will check what went wrong on the move of the CSWD to extend immediate relief assistance to the people. She said they should replenish the funds of the CSWD if it’s already exhausted.

Dignadice, the 13 barangay captains of Jaro and two barangay captains in Lapaz would be asked to explain the veracity of the CSWD report to the city council. The report was dated September 19, 2005. The report said there were 3,646 families or 18,230 persons affected in last September 16, 2005 flashfloods in Jaro and Lapaz brought about by heavy rains. The figure covers 13 barangays in Jaro and two in Lapaz. The CSWD chief recommended before the council to declare these barangays under the state of calamity.
Further, the report said there were 189 families or 945 persons affected in Baldoza, Lapaz and 398 families or 1,990 persons were also affected in Tabuc Suba.

In Jaro district, barangays San Isidro and Tabuc Suba have the most number of affected families. San Isidro has 635 families or 3,175 affected persons while Tabuc Suba has 600 families or 3,000 affected persons.

There were 200 families/ 1,000 persons affected in San Pedro, Benedicto 141 families/ 705 persons; Simon Ledesma 173 families/865 persons; Ma. Cristina 126 families/ 630 persons; San Roque 219 families/1,095 persons; Luna 40 families/200 persons; Arguelles 100 families/500 persons; Democracia 216 families/1,080 persons; Fajardo 50 families/250 persons; Cubay 499/2,495 persons and Lopez Jaena with 60 families or 300 families.

Majority Floor Leader Councilor Eduardo Peñaredondo said they only want to hear the justification of the welfare officer and the different barangay captains. It was Peñaredondo who asked to probe the CSWD report. He argued that what happened last September 16 is not a flashflood and yet there were hundreds of families who were reported to be affected.

Peñaredondo added that they hope to come up with rules on when, how and where to release relief assistance to affected families. “It is not just because the mayor or any official wants to extend relief assistance,” he said.