Marcos, Sara Duterte bring aid to Southern Leyte, Negros Oriental

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Presidential aspirant and former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte arrived here on Wednesday, December 29, to deliver sacks of rice and water purification filters to Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo from their UniTeam.

The two arrived in the city separately as Marcos earlier in the day delivered additional cash assistance, 29 solar panels and 77 LED flashlights, and 2,000 sacks of rice to Southern Leyte Governor Damian Mercado

Mercado met briefly with Marcos and House Majority Leader and Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez at the Panan-awan Airport, Maasin City, around 8:30 a.m. 

Aside from delivering aid to Negros Oriental, the UniTeam running mates sat for a briefing with the provincial risk reduction management office. 

The Davao mayor told local media that business owners from the Dutertes’ home city also donated cash for typhoon survivors. 

Degamo also thanked the Davao Occidental provincial government for the P1 million cash assistance.

Duterte is the first vice presidential bet to visit Negros Oriental after Typhoon Odette.

On December 28, Duterte announced that the Davao City Council approved P1 million in assistance each to the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Dinagat, Guimaras, Bohol, Cebu, Southern Leyte, and Surigao del Sur; P500,000 for Butuan, Iloilo, Cabadbaran, and Surigao cities; and P300,000 for Kitcharao, Cagwait, and Mainit towns.

Aside from the aid handed to Mercado, the UniTeam and party-list group Tingog also turned over to San Ricardo town P500,000 in cash aid and 500 sacks of rice.

After meeting Marcos, Mercado posted on his Facebook page his giving of cash assistance to heads of local governments in the province. He did not say how much he gave or where the cash aid came from.

This is the second tranche of aid delivered by the UniTeam candidates to Southern Leyte.

Marcos on December 19 delivered P2 million cash and P2.5 million worth of relief goods during a simple rites at the provincial capitol.

Mercado also said a representative of Senator Imee Marcos paid a courtesy call on Tuesday, December 28, before conducting relief operations in Sogod, Liloan and other municipalities. 

The senator’s team, he said, also brought 40 linemen to help in restoring the province’s power supply.

Meanwhile, the governor received on December 28 representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), a sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence organization that supports maternal health service delivery systems during emergencies and helps prevent gender-based violence.

The UNFPA team will stay in the province for three months to aid the needs of pregnant and postpartum women, and the general population of women, adolescents, and girls. – Rappler.com