To help families rebuild their houses damaged by Typhoon Odette, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Thursday distributed cash cards that can be used to buy housing materials as well as food and other basic necessities.

In her speech during the distribution at the Talisay Sports Complex, Garcia said the provincial government targets to give “Dasig Sugbu Cards” to families whose houses were “totally damaged” during the onslaught of the typhoon in mid-December.

However, she promised to also distribute assistance to families in the province whose houses were partially damaged.

The cash cards with PHP8,000 worth of credit can be presented to any of the provincial government’s partner merchants when purchasing food items, galvanized iron sheets, fiberboards, and other construction materials.

“Originally, my pledge to the mayors was to allocate PHP5,000 for each family, but I was thinking that those families whose houses are totally damaged, you also have other basic necessities to buy aside from G.I. sheets, fiberboards, including your household implements lost during the typhoon need to be replaced. So, I decided to make it PHP8,000,” she told city officials.

Garcia reminded the recipients to use the cash cards wisely and refrain from using them to buy non-essentials.

Residents whose homes were wrecked by the typhoon but listed as partially damaged by their local government unit or barangay could wait for the next round of distribution, as Garcia pledged to look for the budget.

Apart from the cash assistance, the governor also distributed health kits with 30 capsules of Vitamin C with Zinc, 30 capsules of Vitamin B Complex, 20 capsules of Lagundi cough remedy, and 20 tablets of paracetamol.

Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony Gullas thanked the governor for visiting the southern portal city to personally distribute about 4,000 cash cards to his constituents who lost their houses because of “Odette”.

The governor also pledged to help the barangays in rebuilding their sports gymnasiums and covered courts damaged by the typhoon and distribute UHF handheld radios and generator sets.

After Talisay City, the governor moved to the 10 other southern localities of Minglanilla and Naga City before distributing the assistance to the southwestern towns of the province.

The distribution was the second leg after the governor and other provincial officials went to 18 localities on Tuesday to distribute the same assistance to typhoon victims. (PNA)