BACOLOD CITY, (PNA) — Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. said Tuesday the provincial government here is extending a P2-million donation to the earthquake-ravaged province of Bohol.
On October 15, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Bohol and Cebu, resulting in the deaths of close to 200 people.
Marañon made the announcement after meeting with Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Second District Board Member Salvador Escalante, chairman of the finance committee.
The governor also appealed to the private sector in Negros Occidental to donate either in cash or in kind.
“We decided to donate to Bohol because of the large extent of damage of the earthquake there,” he said.
The Provincial Board is expected to approve the donation for Bohol during their regular session Wednesday.
On Monday, after arriving from his week-long official trip to Japan, Marañon said that Negrenses should be also thankful to God for sparing the province from the deadly earthquake.
“God had spared Negros from a lot of calamities. We have to be thankful for that,” he said.
He cited that before the earthquake incident, Typhoon Santi flooded the agricultural lands, mostly rice farms, affecting about 70 percent of Nueva Ecija’s rice produce that was about to be harvested.