Jimjim urge city businessmen to help revive Tacloban’s economy
TACLOBAN CITY- Jimjim Yaokasin, one of the city’s most well-known businessmen, said that its time to move on and do what we can to restore Tacloban, the ground zero of supertyphoon Yolanda.
Yaokasin, once the city administrator of Tacloban city government, said that it’s about time that local businessmen reopen their businesses and help revive the economy of the city.
“Let us all move on,” he said.
Yaokasin added that in their case, they did not wait to be told by the government for them to restart operating the various businesses that the family owns.
He said that a month after Yolanda devastated Tacloban, the Toyota Service Center-Tacloban of which Yaokasin serves as the president, was opened.
Incidentally, the facility, located at Barangay 71, Maharlika Highway, Naga-Naga, was one of the few structures in Tacloban which did not sustained any major damage.
The Toyota Service Center celebrates its first year operations on November 11. It is now in full operations.
According to Yaokasin, while the building was not that ready for operations considering of the situation at that time, he decided to open it as a way to show that Tacloban was on its way to normalcy.
With the opening of the Toyota Service Center, its more than 200 employees, in the process, were also assured of their jobs.
He added that considering how crucial the transportation at that time, they have to open and fix cars that went underwater due to the storm surges generated by Yolanda.
Yaokasin described their decision in opening the outlet as part as “public service” adding that they also immediately opened their cable company as a way to provide information to the public still reeling from the aftermath of Yolanda.
The family also opened their trading center to help the typhoon victims find items they needed for their daily sustenance.
And just days after Tacloban was hit by the supertyphoon Yolanda, the family practically helped keep running the engines of various cars as they gave away fuel days to car owners and even to for the people to use it for their cooking.
“All we requested from them was to line up for them to get the fuel. That’s the least that we can do to help the people,” Yaokasin said.
And speaking of public service, the Yaokasin family is set to donate pedicabs and bancas to families affected by Yolanda for them to start rebuild their lives.
They are also to donate a vehicle for the Philippine National Police office in Tacloban.
The family, using their contacts, had earlier raised some funds and items to donate to Yolanda victims.
Yaokasin said that they hope that on their “little way,” they were able to help the storm victims. (JOEY A. GABIETA)
