Lawmaker’s pork barrel helped typhoon victims

REPRESENTATIVE Rozzano Rufino Biazon (Muntinlupa City) used part of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to secure 1,800 packs containing canned goods and other basic necessities to families affected by flooding.

Because of the emergency allocation, some projects for the district were suspended and put on hold, said Biazon.

Sun.Star accepts donations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy

The city of Muntinlupa is among the areas badly-hit by Typhoon Ondoy. Eight out of nine barangays in Biazon’s district are flooded.

Biazon over the phone said 1,900 families are in the evacuation centers, which they set up last Saturday. This is yet to include the families that are still in their homes.

An estimated 10,000 families were displaced in the area. Three children who were swept away by the flood died while the estimated value of the damage is yet to be determined.

“In our experience, it takes a long time for floods to subside here. We expect the floods to remain until November,” he said.

Biazon, an active user of social networking site Facebook, also called for donations on his status messages. His messages got favorable responses as even unnamed people not from his district gave donations of food and clothes, among others.

“The allocation of our resources is augmented… I was amazed by the outpouring of support,” he added.

Livelihood, especially in the transport sector, was paralyzed. Jeepneys and tricycles were also submerged in the flood.

Some areas still cannot be entered even by a six-wheeler truck. Biazon said he requested M53 trucks from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) but has yet to be responded due to the widespread destruction.

He, together with his father Senator Rodolfo Biazon, went around the area in a fishing boat.

The lawmaker however said it would have been easier if they had rubber boats as those available had a hard time navigating the narrower barangays.

In a separate phone interview, Representative Proceso Alcala (Quezon, 2nd district) is also extending assistance to Metro Manila.

Alcala said he monitored farmers who are gathering vegetable harvests to send to markets in Manila so the food supply will be increased.

Since his district was not badly-hit, Alcala said he decided to extend assistance to those areas with worse destruction since food is scarce.

Party-list Representatives Liza Maza (Gabriela) and Bayan Muna also launched their own relief drives in different areas of the Metro Manila. (Justine Paredes/Sunnex)