The Department of Social Welfare and Development Regional Office VI and the City Government of Himamaylan partnered to bring aid to families affected by the ongoing drought in the southern Negros Occidental City, said a press release from Himamaylan PIO.
Through the Office of City Mayor Raymund Tongson and the City SWD Office, food packs were distributed on April 18 to hard hit communities, identified by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, in barangays III Poblacion, IV Poblacion, Cabadiangan, Cabanbanan, Carabalan, Caradio-an, Libacao, Mahalang, Mambagaton, Nabali-an, Su-ay, To-oy, Buenavista, Talaban, and San Antonio.
A total of 377 families received food aid from DSWD. Arroz caldo was also served free of charge to the families during the aid distribution courtesy of the City Mayor’s Office.
Tongson previously declared that the city government will utilize its P23 million savings from the calamity fund last year to help Himamaylan’s drought-stricken farmers.
“We are tapping all financial sources and partnerships in order to help our farmers and Himamaylanons who are gravely affected by El Niño,” said the city mayor.
He said the savings will be used to put up infrastructure projects and extend livelihood projects to the affected farmers.
The mayor said the city will also purchase a water filtration truck similar to the vehicle they rented from the provincial government.
As of April 12, a total of 114,000 liters of clean water has been distributed to families from affected barangay through the routine MRTubig program.
As the city government rolls out various programs to address the effects of the drought, Tongson again asked for the continued support of Himamaylanons.*
