The provincial government of Zamboanga del Sur is sending aid to quake-hit Cebu, Gov. Divina Grace Yu said.
Yu said this will be an initial salvo of help, to address urgent relief needs.
The contingent is set to travel on Saturday to Dipolog City, from where they will take a slow boat that will arrive in Cebu City on Sunday.
Yu said personnel from the provincial social welfare and development office and provincial disaster risk reduction and management office will join the delivery of the relief goods ‘to assess on what additional assistance the quake-hit areas needed.’
On Friday, trucks were loaded with 2,000 25-kg bags of rice and 500 kilograms of dried fish as part of the relief supplies to be brought to CebuYu said they will also send a water tanker ‘for areas who need to transport water.’
She disclosed that they initially wanted to send construction materials since many houses were damaged; however, with the current situation, the provincial government saw that food and water should be prioritized.
Yu added that the League of Provinces of the Philippines has called for aid to the people of Cebu.
Former Governor Victor Yu disclosed that several business owners in the province had lent the provincial government the trucks to transport the goods.
In Zamboanga City, Mayor Khymer Olaso sent the second batch of goods to Cebu province on Thursday evening aboard two coast guard vessels – BRP Tubbataha and BRP Capones, bound for Cebu.
The shipment consisted of 700 sacks of rice from the City Social Welfare and Development Office, 20 boxes of canned sardines and 1,000 jerry cans with water.