KOKO WANTS PORK TO AID CDO BOMB VICTIMS

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, PDP Laban President, has requested the Department of Social Welfare and Development to release P250,000 from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, to be used as financial assistance to the victims of the recent bomb blast in Cagayan de Oro City.

In a letter to DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano Soliman, Pimentel said his PDAF under Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) No. G-12-T00940 dated October 18 remains valid until December 31, 2013 and is funded under the FY 2011 General Appropriations Act (RA 10147).

The senator, who hails from Cagayan de Oro, asked that the amount be transferred from the NCR Crisis Intervention Unit to the Regional Office No. 10, with the distribution to the bombing victims to be handled by Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno.

The July 26 bombing incident killed 8 people and injured more than 40 others. Police are investigating the incident but so far no suspects have been arrested.