By Jocelyn P.
Alvarez
ZAMBOANGA CITY - At least 700
internally displaced families who were victims of fire during the September
2013 siege here are expected to receive P3,000 per family as cash
assistance from the Commission on Human
Rights (CHR), said Atty. Sharon Belisario in a phone interview.
“Pasensya lang
muna sila sa proseso , medyo matagal tagal din dahil may mga dokumento na dapat
din ma submit,” she said. (We regret for the delay in the release of this
assistance due to some documentary requirements.)
Atty.
Belisario explained that since December last year, CHR-Zamboanga has already
prepared affidavit for the 700 families as one of the requirements, 300 of them
have already signed the affidavit and the remaining 400 are scheduled to sign
it today.
“Kailangan ng
affidavit, kasi parang complaint din yan (The affidavit is needed because it is
similar to a complaint),” she said.
After the
affidavit has been signed, CHR investigator will then conduct investigation for
the preparation of an investigation report, and then it will be forwarded to
the legal department for resolution then to CHR central office for fund
allocation.
Belisario
explained that it would take about two weeks for CHR-Zamboanga to process. She
could not, however, speak for the central office as to how long it will take
the latter to release the fund.
Belisario said
the CHR for the moment has stopped at 700 families saying “hindi kasi namin
alam kung may enough pondo ba sila sa central office (we don’t know if the
central office has enough funds for the purpose.)” She, however, assured that
once an advice from the central office is given as to the availability of
funds, the CHR here will once again start processing the claims.
“Basta
sigurado, within the year may next batch pa (I’m certain there’s still another
batch to be released within the year),” she said.
Aside from the
affidavit, the beneficiaries will also need to submit fire incident
certification, DSWD access cards and other documents as proofs that they are
indeed victims of the fire. (PIA9)