The Department of Social Services and Development has set up a donations booth at the lobby of the Bacolod City Government Center to accept donations for the flood victims in Manila and Luzon after the city reactivated its Bacolod Cares Program.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia called up from Bangkok Wednesday and said that he will meet with acting Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson when he arrives to finalize the amount of cash assistance they will allocate for the victims hit by intense rain and devastating floods for more than a week now in Manila and Luzon.

As suggested by Manila, cash donations will be coursed through the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office headed by Jose Marie Vargas. who said it will take time and some difficulty to send goods, unlike cash that can be sent speedily and be received immediately by the flood victims, a press release from City Hall said.

A state of calamity declaration, approved by the city council, is needed before cash donations can be processed, Vargas added.

As for preparations of the city for natural calamities, Vargas said the Mayor has created a task force that will involve the chiefs of hospitals, a radio station, the Bacolod City Police Office, Bureau of Fire Protection, and the DRRMO, Amity, the Filipino-Chinese Chamber, Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Bacolod City Water District, the Philippine Coastguard and other government agencies, whose assistance is vital in preparations for calamities.

Vargas said BACIWA has a master plan that includes a gravitational system and a generating set in case its Buro-Buro water source becomes affected by natural calamities, while CENEO has its gas tanker and a proposal to cut trees that obstruct its electrical wires.*

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