Short of funds, quake-hit town in Southern Leyte seeks gov’t aid
TACLOBAN CITY—The municipal government of San Francisco in Southern Leyte is seeking assistance from national government agencies as it grapples with the aftermath of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck the town on Thursday.
While the town has been placed under a state of calamity, it does not have enough funds to assist those affected by the earthquake as well as repair the damaged infrastructure.
San Francisco, the epicenter of the earthquake, is a fifth class municipality with annual income of P15 million to P25 million. Its calamity funds for 2025 is only P7 million.
“We cannot use the entire amount of our current calamity fund [in earthquake recovery operations], considering that we are still in the first quarter of the year,” said Teo in a phone interview on Saturday.
Acording to Teo, 91 houses were damaged in the town’s Barangays Sta. Paz Norte, Sta. Paz Sur, Pasanon, Sta. Cruz and Malico.
Eight other houses were destroyed in Barangay Malico and another in Barangay Tuno. The affected residents in these two villages were housed inside a gymnasium in Barangay Marayag.
Also damaged by the earthquake were roads, some government offices and five school buildings.
“Our engineering team is still conducting inspections in our schools to assess the extent of the damage and identify any infrastructure defects,” Teo said.
Water supply
The earthquake also damaged the town’s water transmission lines which supply water from Barangay Bugawisan, about 7 kilometers from the town center.
“About 5 km of our [water] transmission lines were destroyed due to the earthquake,” Teo said.
On Jan. 24, personnel from the Office of Civil Defense in Eastern Visayas visited the town to deliver initial assistance which included food packs, nonfood items and repair kits.
Lord Byron Torrecarion, OCD regional directo, assured residents that his office, in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, would provide further assistance to earthquake victims.
Torrecarion said that they were also working with the Department of Public Works and Highways to repair roads and bridges damaged by the earthquake.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Eastern Visayas on Saturday afternoon said their initial data showed that 337 families, comprising 1,207 people, were affected by the quake.
These families were from the towns of San Ricardo, Pintuyan, Liloan, Padre Burgos, and San Francisco.
