Bacolod City – Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri is pushing for a supplemental budget to be used to assist typhoon victims and rehabilitation of devastated areas in the country.
Zubiri, who led the distribution of relief goods at the Provincial Capitol, Bacolod City and in Kabankalan City, said that he will study it when the Senate resumes its session January next year.
“If needed, I will be the first to file the bill, to help our countrymen victimized by the typhoon,” he said.
Zubiri added that the supplemental fund will be coursed through the National Housing Authority or the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
He expects that it will have the support of the majority of senators.
Zubiri said that the 400 sacks of rice he distributed to Negros Occidental came from his personal funds.
“When I saw the pictures coming out of the news from the typhoon- hit areas, I was heart- broken. My hometown, Kabankalan City is badly- hit,” Zubiri, a native of Negros Occidental, said.
Whatever happens, let us not lose hope, faith and pray,” he stressed.
Zubiri also reiterated his appeal to leaders to set aside politics.
“Right now, there is no red, white, yellow or pink. We are one nation, one country, one flag. Let us help our people get up from this calamity,” the Ilonggo senator said.
He said he believes in the resiliency of the Ilonggos and that “we will stand up again.”
Zubiri also acknowledged the immediate action and assistance by the Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer to the areas hit by the typhoon.
Kabankalan City Mayor Pedro Zayco also thanked Zubiri for his help to his fellow Kabankalanons.
Meanwhile, Zubiri pledged an additional P200 million budget for the construction of the Bacolod City General Hospital and road construction for the coliseum and museum during the lone Negrosanon lawmaker’s visit to the city recently.
Zubiri, who met with Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia to turn over 100 sacks of rice for the victims of Typhoon Odette as part of his “Operation Bulig,” said the extra fund is separate from the P400 million that was set for the construction of the hospital in Barangay Vista Alegre.
“I told Mayor Bing to use me as a tool to get projects and programs. Not only do we have the coliseum, we also have the hospital.”
“It is a done deal and it is in the budget. I have fulfilled my commitment to you. We only need the implementation,” Zubiri said.
Zubiri’s arrival at the Bacolod Government Center coincided with Leonardia spearheading a City Development Council (CDC) meeting.
The mayor then announced the good news shortly after their conversation, saying that the senator has also allocated P109 million for the road network needed for the coliseum and museum.
The construction of the coliseum, Leonardia added, is because of Zubiri’s initiative to help in developing Bacolod City.
He also lauded the efforts of Zubiri to help not only Bacolod but the whole Negros after the onslaught of Odette.
“He (Senator Zubiri) said he cannot bear seeing the news that Negros Island and Bacolod are affected by the typhoon.
“These are trying times in Negros and Bacolod. Fortunately for us, Bacolod was not affected severely,” Leonardia said.
Zubiri also praised the mayor for doing a job well done, particularly on the city’s rescue and relief operations. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)