Duterte vows to raise another P2B in aid
BY VICTOR REYES and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
THE death toll from the onslaught of typhoon “Odette” has risen to 373, the PNP said yesterday, as President Duterte vowed to raise another P2 billion for rescue and rehabilitation operations in affected areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.
The worst hit by Odette, the deadliest typhoon to hit the county this year, were the Central Visayas, Caraga, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Northern Mindanao regions.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported only 58 deaths, including four that have been validated or confirmed by the council. The NDRRMC said it is following a reporting and verification procedure and is being cautious because there had been instances of double counting of fatalities.
Odette hit the Visayas and Mindanao on Thursday and Friday last week and exited the country on Saturday.
A report from the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City said 170 of the deaths were reported in Central Visayas, which include the worst-hit province of Bohol that continues to appeal for help.
The PNP also said 167 died in Caraga, 24 in Western Visayas, seven in Northern Mindanao, six in Eastern Visayas, and one in Zamboanga Peninsula.
Police said 56 persons remain missing — 47 in Central Visayas, eight in Caraga and one in Eastern Visayas — and 500 were injured — 364 in Central Visayas, 118 in Caraga, 15 in Eastern Visayas, and three in Northern Mindanao.
The 170 deaths reported by the PNP in Central Visayas is a little higher compared to the 147 combined number of fatalities reported by Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, and the NDRRMC.
As of yesterday, Yap said there were 94 deaths in his province and Garcia reported 48 deaths in Cebu . A report from the NDRRMC showed there were five deaths in Negros Oriental.
The NDRRMC only reported 58 deaths — 31 in Cebu, eight in Bohol, five each in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, four in Agusan del Sur, three in Misamis Oriental and one each Misamis Occidental and Butuan City.
Of the reported deaths, four were already validated or confirmed the council.
The NDRRMC also said 18 are missing and 199 were injured.
It said 997,665 individuals were affected in the Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, and Caraga regions, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Of the number, 442,424 were displaced and are either staying inside 2,435 evacuation centers or with their relatives.
It said about 2,803 houses and 16 infrastructures were damaged. The cost of damage to infrastructure was placed at P235 million while damage to agriculture was so far pegged at P118 million.
The NDRRMC said at least 12 cities and municipalities in the Caraga region have declared a state of calamity in their areas. It said it said it was still awaiting reports as to other LGUs in other regions that may have already declared a state of calamity.
Many areas in the affected regions, including Bohol and Cebu, are still without electricity, and communication signals are intermittent. Many roads remained blocked by toppled trees and posts, delaying delivery of relief goods to affected population.
“We are still assessing the damage but it is huge as per initial report: entire community leveled to the ground, no electricity water and food,” said Defense Secretary and NDRRMC chairman Delfin Lorenzana.
“The first thing we are doing is address the food and water and medical care of the injured. I have directed the AFP to deploy all available assets — ships, boats, aircraft, trucks – to bring relief goods to the stricken areas. I have also directed the AFP to deploy more troops if necessary,” added Lorenzana.
FOREIGN AID
Lorenzana assured the public that the government will reach the affected population to extend help.
He noted Malacañang has released P2 billion to attend to the needs of the affected population. “Everyone will be served in due time… The government has just allocated P2 billion.”
Asked if the amount is enough, Lorenzana just said, “We’ll see.”
On whether the government can deliver the needs of the typhoon victims without the help of the international community, Lorenzana said, “If there will be no foreign assistance, we can manage but if there are donors, we will accept.”
Casiano Monilla, deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense, said the government has yet to appeal for help from the community. However, he said the United Nations Office for the Coordination on Humanitarian Assistance already sent a letter, offering technical expertise and other help.
NDRRMC spokesman Mark Timbal said some countries and foreign organizations have offered assistance and “we welcome these declarations coming from our allies.” He added: “As of now, we can manage, government resources are being (used) to attend to the needs of our people.”
On the lower number of deaths reported by the NDRRMC compared with the PNP and other agencies, Monilla sought the understanding of the public.
“The NDRRMC only counts those reports that it receive… We don’t want to kill people in our reports, much more we don’t want to report people are alive when they are dead. Just bear with us on this one,” he said.
Timbal said there have been instances of double counting of the dead by the police.
Monilla, who earlier expressed confidence there will be minimal number of casualties due to the pre-emptive evacuation of people from high-risk areas and other preparedness measures, could not immediately give a reason on the high number of deaths.
“I was really expecting a lower number and I cannot make a conclusion why this happened, why there’s a large number (of deaths) because this has to be studied and investigated… It will take time for us to be able to investigate and identify what were the loopholes of the plan, where we committed mistakes,” said Monilla.
APPEALS FOR HELP
Yap reiterated his appeal to the public to provide Bohol with generator sets to bring back water supply in the province. Electric facilities have been toppled by Odette, affecting the flow of potable water.
He said desalination equipment may also be also provided to Bohol residents, especially those in the coastal areas.
Yap said much work still needs to be done to clear the roads of fallen trees, electric posts and debris. He said he has reached out to chainsaw operators to help in clearing roads.
Yap said the initial cost of damage in Bohol is about P4 billion to P5 billion in private property alone, noting the devastation caused by Odette on houses.
Yap said of the 48 municipalities of Bohol, eight are yet to submit reports on the extent of damage in their areas due to downed communication lines. He said there was no electricity in Bohol as of yesterday. The provincial government is functioning only through generator sets.
Garcia said 80 percent of the province’s 44 towns and six cities were affected by the onslaught of Odette.
She said they cannot reach Malabuyoc town due to a damaged bridge. She said he has requested the dispatch of a Navy ship to bring supplies to the town “because Malabuyoc is isolated now.”
He said the number of deaths in Cebu was “relatively minimal” considering the 3.2 million population of the province.
“Loss to lives was minimal but we have massive infrastructure damage, both public and private. Many houses in several town were unroofed, houses were destroyed, others were transferred to the middle of the road,” said Garcia.
“The greatest damage was inflicted in the southwestern part and parts of the southeastern portion and then onto Metro Cebu and onto some towns in the northern area. Many houses were damaged but mayors are coping, they are doing the best that they can. We also assisting from the provincial government,” she added.
Dinagat Islands provincial information officer Jeffrey Crisostomo said a building where they were storing relief goods was also damaged by the typhoon, damaging unspecified quantity of rice. But they were able to save canned goods and other items that were not exposed to rains.
He said the damaged rice will no longer be distributed to their constituents.
“We’re not distributing these type of relief goods if they are not in good condition,” he said.
“That is why we are appealing (to other agencies) for the immediate delivery of food packs, potable water,” said Crisostomo.
He also said there were reports of looting in the capital town, referring to the municipality of San Jose. He said the PNP is exerting efforts to maintain peace and order, in coordination with force multipliers.
PNP spokesman Col. Roderick Alba said the PNP has yet to receive any report of looting. “As far as the report is concerned, zero,” he said.
But Alba said it was possible people were not reporting cases of looting because they are busy attending to their needs.
He said PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos has issued directives to police units to “cover everything,” adding there is a need to ensure the secure the houses that were vacated due to evacuation.
MISSING EXECS
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said 14 local chief executives (LCEs) were not in their areas during the onslaught of Odette.
“Out of 1,025 LCEs, only 14 were not present and they are accounted, meaning they have reasons why they are not around. Still, we will look into their justifications if ever there is some neglect on their part,” said Año.
Days before the Odette’s landfall, Año directed all LCEs to be in their areas of jurisdiction before, during, and after Odette to supervise response operations.
The Philippine Navy said it has repurposed the presidential yacht BRP Ang Pangulo into a 10-bed, floating hospital to attend the needs of the victims in Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte.
Navy spokesman Commander Benjo Negranza said the ship left on Sunday from the South Harbor in Manila for Siargao Island, carrying a thousand of family food packs, 300 rolls of laminated sacks and 1,212 hygiene kits.
These relief items are from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, said Negranza.
Two more Navy ships loaded with relief goods were also sent to Surigao City and Cebu City.
One of the ships, BRP Agta, left Cavite City yesterday morning with 1,000 food packs and 200 sacks of rice from Tanging Yaman Foundation and assorted goods from the GMA Foundation.
These relief goods, weighing 145,000 kilos, are for Odette victims in Lapu-Lapu City.
The second ship, BRP Iwak, also left Cavite City on Sunday night for Surigao City.
BRP Iwak was loaded with relief goods, composed of 7.8 tons of bottled water from the office of Vice President Leni Robredo; 142 5-gallon water containers, four boxes of bottled water from Naval Task Group National Capital Region; 50 sacks of rice from Jam Pinaroc; 130 bottled water from Maynilad; and other consolidated assorted relief goods from the different units of the Navy’s Philippine Fleet and other non-government and private stakeholders, including the Christian Bible Baptist Church, Bliss Restaurant and Pawssion Project Spar.
P2B MORE IN AID
President Duterte vowed to raise another P2 billion for rescue and rehabilitation operations following his visit to Argao in Cebu and Inabanga in Bohol on Sunday.
The President, in speaking with local officials and the evacuees in Bohol, reiterated that the bulk of the 2021 budget has been spent on COVID-19 response efforts but the national government will not stop providing aid to those in need.
Last Saturday, Duterte said in Maasin in Leyte during his visit that P2 billion will be allotted and divided among devastated areas.
“So we gave 2 billion there (in Leyte), that’s what you will divide. We will give the same amount since that’s what we give to the others, so I will look for another P2 billion and they said we have the money,” he said in Visayan.
Duterte said the funds have been downloaded to the banks of the local government units (LGUs) concerned.
The President said that with the expected new budget for 2022, more funds can be used for the recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development said that as of 6 p.m. of December 20, about 465,230 families or 1.85 million persons from 3,533 barangays in nine regions were affected by Odette.
It said 177,710 families or 671,062 persons from Regions IV-B (Mimaropa), VI (Western Visayas), VII (Central Visayas), VIII (Eastern Visayas, X (Northern Mindanao), and XIII (Caraga) were displaced.
Some P14.585 million worth of assistance has been provided to the affected families by the DSWD (P8.479 million), the local government units (P6.065 million), and non-government organizations (P41.3 million).
DSWD spokeswoman Irene Dumlao said DSWD still has over P940 million that it can tap to address the needs in typhoon-affected areas.
DINAGAT ISLANDS
Vice President Leni Robredo said Odette-stricken Dinagat Islands is in dire need of food as supplies running low and the province is suffering from extreme devastation, including the provincial capitol, which was destroyed.
“Paubos na daw po pagkain nila at wala mabili sa buong lalawigan kaya hindi po namin naabutan si Gov. (Arlene) Kaka Bag-ao dahil pumunta siya sa Butuan para maghanap ng tulong. Wala pong kuryente, tubig at any means of communication (Their food supply is running low and there’s no food left in the province that’s why failed to meet with Gov. Kaka Bag-ao since she went to Butuan (City) to get help. There is no electricity, clean water and means of communication),” said Robredo who visited the province yesterday.
Bag-ao is a former representative of Akbayan party-list which is allied with Robredo’s Liberal Party.
Robredo apologized for riding a motorcycle without a helmet, saying she did not have access to one since many personal belongings were swept away by the typhoon.
She said her team had to ride motorcycles as many roads in the province remain impassable due to fallen trees and electric posts.
The Vice President and her team have has been busy with their relief operations, immediately going to hard-hit areas such as Bohol and Cebu City last weekend.
The Vice President spoke with families who lost their homes to personally find out what they need most urgently. She also met with local government officials to coordinate relief and rebuilding efforts.
At the House, Rep. Carlos Zarate (PL, Bayan Muna) urged the Senate to expedite the passage of its version of the permanent evacuation centers bill that the House already passed on third reading “so that victims of calamities would have a secure and safe venue to recover from disasters” like Odette.
Zarate said the bill seeks to veer away from the practice of using schools and multi-purpose halls as evacuation centers by placing the facilities “in between barangays so that more people can reach them at the soonest time and may also serve as the command center for disaster response.” — With Wendell Vigilia
