RAFI Sending Samar Financial Assistance

After consulting its partner organizations in the province, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) will be giving cash aid instead of relief goods to help families, particularly those in Northern Samar, recover from the effects of typhoon Ruby.

“Around 1,600 families with totally damaged houses in the towns of Lope de Vega, Lapinig, Mapanas, Gamay, and Mondragon in Northern Samar will receive the cash assistance,” said Margaret Ann T. Gravador, Executive Director of the RAFI Integrated Development Unit and the designated Operations Head of the RAFI Disaster Response Team for typhoon Ruby.

Gravador said RAFI have decided to give cash assistance instead of relief goods to the families to “provide them more options to buy their respective needs.”

“Some families might need building materials while others may need other things,” she said.

The target areas were identified based on the assessment report by the Diocesan Social Action Center of Catarman (DSAC), an organization that closely coordinated with RAFI a few days after Ruby tore through the Visayas and Southern Luzon early this month.

Yesterday, Gravador led a five-person team to validate the information RAFI’s partner organizations provided and to further check for other needs of the typhoon survivors.

Gravador assured that beneficiaries would receive the financial assistance before the year ends.

Aside from DSAC, RAFI also partnered with SHIFT Foundation based in Mondragon, Northern Samar and the International Rescue Committee in their disaster relief initiatives.

Dominica B. Chua, RAFI chief operating officer, said the foundation chose Samar because it was hit the worst by Ruby.

She said that based on the foundation’s assessment, Cebu local government units were deemed capable enough in handling the situation in their respective jurisdictions, which is why RAFI is assisting those LGUs that badly need help the most.

Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board co-chairman Roberto Aboitiz earlier said he was impressed and glad over the response of Cebu LGUs in preparing for typhoon Ruby.

Receiving updates from RAFI assessment teams sent immediately after Ruby hit Cebu, Aboitiz said the mayors did their job in preparing their respective localities and “seeing to it that their constituents are at the top of their plans.”

“They are more focused on what they need to do,” Aboitiz had said, adding that the disaster preparedness response was a product of past lessons learned.