COVID-19 may have threatened the lives of many, but not the hope of some people who are positive that this pandemic will surely pass.
That is the feeling of the Indigenous people (IP) community Tribu Bukidnon of Trinidad, Guilhulngan City, Negros Oriental who are stranded in the province of Cebu.
Ronelo Marco and Dheliem Alibo are just two of the IP members of Tribu Bukidnon who are stranded here in Cebu due to the Enhanced Community Quarantine ordinance.
“Gibati ko ug kahadlok, kay layo ko sa akong pamilya, unya wa pa gyud koy pondo nga kwarta (I was scared because I am far from my family, and I do not have savings),” recalled Ronelo when the Covid-19 pandemic struck and the ECQ was strictly implemented.
His fellow IP members did not know what to do or where to go thus, Ronelo voluntarily asked assistance from Ms. Cynthia G. Pomar, Tribal Affairs Assistant 1 of National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) of Negros Oriental by sending her a facebook message. She was asked by Ms. Pomar to send the names of his fellow stranded Tribu Bukidnons in Cebu City.
Little did they know that DSWD will grant their request in a couple of days.
“Wa mi magdahom nga dinha dayon pagka ikatulo ka adlaw gikan sa pagsubmit namo sa ngalan (ngadto sa NCIP), makadawat dayon mi ug hinabang gikan sa DSWD. Salamat kaayo sa tabang (We were surprised that only after 3 days of submitting our names to NCIP, we received the Family Food Packs (FFP) from DSWD. Thank you very much for the help),” said Marco.
All IP members in the list received 1 FFP each.
“Salamat kaayo DSWD kay nakatabang gyud ni namo (thank you so much DSWD, because this helps us a lot),” Alibo also said.
The IP community members are among the 3,400 individuals who are stranded in Cebu City who requested the DSWD aid in the form of FFP. There are also displaced workers, students and other individuals from different provinces and regions. Presently, the DSWD-7 has already provided 2,497 FFPs which is equivalent to Php 915,215.92. The DSWD-7 will distribute more FFPs to the remaining recipients of FFPs as scheduled. ###
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