FUND FOR RECOVERY. President Rodrigo Duterte (left) interacts with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia during a command conference at the Gen. Benito Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City on Thursday night (Dec 23, 2021). Duterte announced that he is allocating PHP10 billion for the relief and reconstruction works in the aftermath of Typhoon Odette. (Photo courtesy of OPAV) CEBU CITY - President Rodrigo Duterte has pledged a PHP10-billion fund for the relief and reconstruction efforts of the provinces badly hit by Typhoon Odette. Each province will receive PHP100 million, to be divided by the component cities and municipalities. The fund came from the different government agencies. Duterte made the announcement Thursday night during a command conference with officials, including the military, at the Gen. Benito Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City, as he visited Cebu for the second time since the onslaught of the typhoon on Thursday last week. The President visited Cebu on Sunday after the typhoon and conducted aerial survey at the southern part of the province and landed in Argao town, the second southern locality next to Carcar City where the typhoon made landfall. After the meeting at the Philippine Air Force base, Duterte proceeded to Barangays Tisa and Labangon to check the extent of damage left by the typhoon. He was met by hundreds of residents, including some mayors, at the Labangon Elementary School gymnasium where he and Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go distributed food packs to the calamity victims. During the command conference, Duterte directed officials to utilize all assets of government in the recovery and rebuilding efforts. He also said that food and construction supplies should be distributed to the typhoon victims who are in dire need of important commodities as they are still reeling with the scarcity of water supply as power has not been fully restored yet. The police and the military will be deployed to impose order during the distribution of construction materials to the victims. "Although in a smaller scale we have to deal with fire, landslide, so alam natin (we know it) in my experience, in times of crisis, in times of emergency, you have to call in the military and the police," Duterte said, citing the role of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the rehabilitation works. He added that the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard assets are being utilized to deliver much-needed supplies to typhoon-hit areas, particularly to the island villagers cut off from the mainland. The BRP Tarlac II arrived in Cebu on Tuesday, carrying 350,000 kilos of assistance from the national government. Duterte directed Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano to supervise the recovery efforts in the highly urbanized cities struck by the typhoon while other concerns on the recovery works will be coursed through Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino. (PNA) }