Some 9,357 families in Barangay Rio Tuba, Bataraza received food assistance packages from Coral Bay Nickel Corporation (CBNC) as part of the company’s ongoing relief operations for its impact communities.
The food items were distributed starting Monday to residents affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) due to COVID-19. The funds used for the relief operation, amounting to around P2.3 million, came from the Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) of CBNC for Rio Tuba.
Rio Tuba barangay councilor Arielit Agot said the distribution on April 27 was already the third round in the community.
“This is already the third time for Brgy. Rio Tuba to receive this kind of assistance. Despite of everything, we are still fortunate because we see that everybody works hand-in-hand to overcome this crisis. We have the barangay and municipal government, and the CBNC, that alternately responds to the situation by giving relief assistance to each family,” Agot said.
The first release came from the combined quick response fund (QRF) of the barangay and the municipal government of Bataraza, and the second one was from Bayanihan Heal as One Act grant.
To date, the company has released a total of P9 million from its SDMP fund to assist 12 barangays and 8 indigenous people (IP) communities in the town, benefiting about 23,000 families.
The amount of SDMP fund released is expected to increase in the coming days since the community quarantine is extended until May 15, although Palawan was downgraded to general community quarantine (GCQ) status.
Aside from relief efforts in Bataraza, CBNC is also providing assistance to the municipality of Balabac.
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