Home 
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Officials of the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) will be invited to appear in Wednesday’s City Council session to explain expenses of the action center set up for families of victims of the MV Princess of the Stars disaster.
Councilor Gerry Carillo said even if DSWD City Officer Catherine Yso and her personnel are not supposed to be questioned on where the funds went, they should still answer the questions posed by other councilors.
“I knew Cathy did her job. We even commend DSWS because there are working 24 hours a day in a week. The effort they had extended is tremendous. But everybody has to account, everybody has to explain,” Carillo said.
He said if the other councilors dropped by the action center then they would understand how the funds were spent.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña also defended Yso against some councilors’ observations that food packs were distributed indiscriminately and questioned the kind of meals served.
“During relief operations you just release. You incur some waste in helping everybody. I never heard a report that during the war you use too much ammunition. The important thing is we win the war,” Osmeña said.
Stressed-out family members of passengers of the MV Princess of the Stars continued to check in at the YMCA in Cebu City for temporary lodging.
They can no longer sleep at the Cebu City Sports Center, where the disaster action center has shifted focus to processing claims and taking blood samples for DNA testing.
The center will be open only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily with help desks from various government agencies in a one-stop-shop setup.
The families were transferred last Sunday to the YMCA where their room and board is paid for by the local government units and the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Central Visayas (DSWD-7).
Meanwhile, Cebu Provincial Social Welfare Officer Marivic Garces said their office will use the DSWD-7 list as basis for the release of the Capitol's P10,000 assistance to each family.
Garces said about 335 of the Sulpicio victims are from different parts of Cebu province. The highest number of casualties comes from the fourth district.
Of the 335 victims, Garces said they managed to confirm that 107 of these remains were passengers of the sunken vessel.
About 74 of them were passengers while 33 were ship crews, she added.
On the other hand, lawyers from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Cebu Chapter, Young Lawyers Association of Cebu (YLAC) began offering their services free for the families.
Attorney Julius Entise said five lawyers will be available everyday for legal counseling and to issue affidavits needed to process all the claims.
He also warned the families to examine the papers they are being made to sign.
“There are instances that a waiver may be considered null and void,” Entise warned.
According to Ryan Go, vice president of Sulpicio Lines Inc. said there are more families processing their quit-claims yesterday as compared to the past days.
The families of the victims who are declared dead or missing and are listed in the manifest can get P200,000 if they sign a quit-claim. /With a story from Reporters Doris C. Bongcac and Marian Z. Codilla
