RICE FROM INMATES. Personnel from the Surigao City Jail load 30 sacks of rice for delivery to the earthquake-affected areas in Mindanao. The sacks of rice were voluntarily donated by the inmates by cutting their regular ration for one day. (Photo courtesy of Surigao City Jail Information Office)
BUTUAN CITY -- Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) in Surigao City Jail voluntarily made their meaningful contributions for the victims of powerful earthquakes in Mindanao by slicing portions of their food rations inside the jail.
In a statement on Saturday, Jail Senior Insp. Diovin C. Auza, the city jail warden, said more than 600 inmates from Surigao City Jail decided to cut their regular allowance and accumulated 30 sacks of rice that they wanted to be given to Mindanao residents who were badly hit by recent earthquakes.
The 30 sacks of rice have a total value of PHP37,500 and equivalent to a one-day meal allowance for the more than 600 PDLs inside the Surigao City Jail, Auza said.
"It's like they skip three meals for an entire day for the purpose of helping our fellowmen who were badly affected by the successive quakes that struck here in Mindanao," he said.
The donations of the PDLs were officially received by Commander Lawrence Roque of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Surigao del Norte.
The PCG will take charge of the transportation of the 30 sacks of rice together with the other relief goods from various sectors in the Caraga Region.
Meanwhile, in an update on Sunday, PCG vessels carrying five trucks commissioned by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) from Manila already arrived at the Lipata Port in Surigao City at around 8 a.m. on Sunday.
The trucks are carrying various relief goods that will be delivered to different areas in Mindanao affected by recent earthquakes.
The PCG also announced that 10 more trucks loaded with relief goods from Manila are set to arrive at the said port soon. The trucks are expected on Monday (Nov. 4), the PCG said.
On the other hand, DSWD-Caraga said it has provided augmentation support to DSWD in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) consisting of 2,000 family food packs with a total amount of PHP745,240.
Non-food items such as family kits and kitchen kits worth PHP1,842,685 were also turned over by DSWD-13 (Caraga) to DSWD-12 to be distributed to families struck by the recent earthquakes in the area.
The DSWD-Caraga said the augmentation support was properly handed over to DSWD-12 on Saturday.
On Friday (Nov. 1), DSWD-Caraga also provided the DSWD in Davao Region with a total augmentation of 3,000 family food packs amounting to PHP1,223,460 and non-food items with a total amount of PHP1,902,160.
The non-food items include hygiene kits, mosquito nets, blankets, plastic mats, and rolls of laminated sacks. (PNA)
