MANILA Mayor Honey Lacuna and Vice Mayor Yul Servo profusely thanked President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. for personally extending help to the more than 2,000 families who have been rendered homeless during a fire that hit the populous residential area of Isla Puting Bato in Tondo, even as she and Servo also began the distribution of Christmas food boxes for all the households in the numbering about 700,000.
“Mahal naming Pangulo, sa ngalan po ng buong barangay ng Isla Puting Bato, maraming maraming salamat po sa inyo. Sana po ay ‘wag kayong magsawa sa pagtulong sa aming mga Manilenyo,” the mayor said of President Marcos, Jr.
“Ang Lungsod po ng Maynila ay taos-pusong nagpapasalamat sa mabilis at malasakit na hakbang na ginawa ng inyong pamahalaan sa pagbigay ng tulong sa aking mga kababayan na nawalan ng tahanan at ari-arian. Nawa’y magpatuloy pa ang inyong magandang serbisyo para sa kapakanan ng bawat isa sa ating bansa,” the mayor further said in gratitude to the national government assistance handed by the President himself.Marcos and Lacuna were joined by other national and local officials led by the Department of Social Welfare (DSWD) head Rex Gatchalian, Servo, comebacking first district Congressman Manny Lopez and Manila city councilors, as they distributed various kinds of assistance to the fire victim families, that include food packs and cash, among others.
Lacuna told the fire victims:”Palagi ko po sinasabi, na basta para sa inyo, kahit ipanghingi ko pa kayo, hindi ako mahihiya. At gaya ng sinabi ko nung una kaming magbaba ng tulong, babalik kami.”
Meanwhile, at the kick-off of the ’12 Days of Christmas’ of the city government, Lacuna said: “Napakaraming pagsubok dinaanan natin ngayong taon, maya’t-maya may bagyo, kaliwa’t-kanan ang sunog, pero hindi maaring hindi maibigay sa inyo ang napakasimpleng Pamaskong Handog para sa bawat pamilyang Manilenyo.”
“Gusto namin, meron kayong pagsasaluhan sa Pasko…sana ay pagdamutan ninyo ang aming munting nakayanan ngayong taon. Sama-Sayang Kapaskuhan sa bawat pamilyang Manilenyo!” the mayor said.
The food boxes contain 5 kilos of rice, pasta and sauce, cheese, milk, canned mixed fruits and several cans of corned beef.
