6 regions under state of calamity
BY VICTOR REYES and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
THE National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) yesterday said it is conducting massive operations to bring food and non-food items to hundreds of thousands of persons in the Visayas and Mindanao, which were hit by typhoon “Odette.”
The NDRRMC issued the statement amid mounting calls from local government units for relief goods and after President Duterte placed six regions under a state of calamity, including the worst-hit Central Visayas region (Region VII.)
The five others are Mimaropa (Region IV-B), Western Visayas (VI), Eastern Visayas (VIII), Northern Mindanao (X), and Caraga (XIII).
The declaration of a state of calamity under Proclamation 1267 puts in effect price controls on basic commodities, paves the way for the quicker release of calamity funds, and will expedite rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts of the government and the private sector.
The proclamation, signed by President Duterte on December 21, also says the state of calamity will remain in effect for a year unless sooner lifted.
Odette, which hit the Visayas and Mindanao late last week, left hundreds dead and about 1.4 million individuals displaced.
The PNP earlier reported 375 dead, including 170 in Central Visayas as of Tuesday morning.
The Central Visayas provinces of Bohol and Negros Oriental reported 103 and 70 deaths, as of yesterday. The PNP ceased providing updates since Tuesday noon amid a huge difference between its figures and that of the NDRRMC which reported only 177 fatalities as of yesterday. The NDRRMC has said it is only being cautious in reporting deaths, noting instances of double counting of fatalities in the past. The official count comes from the NDRRMC.
Several affected areas still have no power or communication lines.
NDRRMC spokesman Mark Timbal said the agency chaired by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is aware of social media posts, and TV and radio reports and interviews of people who are appealing for assistance.
“Our delivery is ongoing. Our delivery of relief support is massive in the various communities… We’re taking note of the calls of these calls for assistance,” Timbal told a phone interview.
“That’s one of the reasons why we’re fast-tracking the (transport of goods),” he also said, adding that assets from the Armed Forces, private airline companies, and other organizations are being used in the transport of relief goods from the national government and donors.
Timbal said the national government has “enough supplies” and the NDRRMC is “rushing” the delivery of the assistance to the affected areas, in compliance with the President’s directive.
“We have many tons of bottled water, non-food items and family food packs which are either already loaded, have already landed or on the way to these areas,” Timbal also said.
He also said the NDRRMC has activated a donation hotline after receiving offers for help from numerous organizations.
The Philippine Air Force said its C-130 planes have transported over 88,000 pounds of relief goods to the areas, including tents, water, food, toiletries, and generator sets.
A Navy transport ship, BRP Tarlac, left the South Harbor in Manila with 350,000 kilos of relief goods from the DSWD, Department of Health, Rotary Club of Manila, Globe Telecom,
The Bellevue Manila, New World Makati Hotel, Operations Blessings, non-government organizations and private individuals.
About 150 tons of rolling cargoes are also onboard, consisting of AFP mobile kitchen, military vehicles with water tanks, trucks from Meralco and Maynilad, as well as Bank on Wheels. It was also carrying 200 Marines who will help in humanitarian assistance and disaster response in the affected areas.
Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said it took the President days to declare the state of calamity because the government had to first determine the extent of the damage from Odette.
In the absence of a calamity declaration, agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Agriculture were able to immediately use their quick reaction funds (QRFs) to assist the typhoon victims, Nograles also said.
The calamity declaration was announced by Duterte on Tuesday night during his regular public address.
Acting Budget Secretary Tina Rose Marie Canda yesterday said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is ready to augment the QRF of the concerned agencies with funds to be sourced from the NDRRMC calamity fund.
On the P10-billion fund that Duterte promised, Canda said P2 billion would also be sourced from the NDRRMC calamity fund while the P2 billion will come from the contingency fund of the President, and the remaining P6 billion will be sourced from the 2022 budget.
The President, during his visit to Leyte on Saturday, vowed to release P2 billion for typhoon-affected areas, and another P2 billion when he visited Inabanga in Bohol on Sunday. He announced an additional P20 billion aid on Sunday.
The DBM said the total amount is just P10 billion.
Nograles said Proclamation 1267 also allows the country to receive foreign donations. He said pledges have come from the United Nations, European Union, United States, United Kingdom, Qatar, China, Canada and Japan.
Social Welfare spokeswoman Irene Dumlao said no official foreign donation has been received through the DSWD.
Lorenzana on Tuesday night said Taiwan has promised to send relief assistance, but will be using its planes to transport the aid to the affected islands.
‘EXTENSIVE’ DAMAGE
The NDRRMC said the cost of damage to infrastructure and agriculture increased to P323.2 million and PP227.1 million, respectively. These figures are expected to rise due to continuing damage assessment.
It said some 15,618 houses were so far accounted to have been damaged or destroyed by Odette.
Maj. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commander of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division covering Central and Western Visayas, said the response will take time.
“It’s going to be a long-drawn battle just like (typhoon) `Yolanda.’ This is not going to be over in just one or two weeks. It will take months to rehabilitate… The damage (caused by Odette) is extensive. We also have a challenge with electricity. If there is no electricity, there’s no water and communications,” he said.
Yolanda devastated several regions in 2013, leaving 6,300 people dead, of which 5,902 are in Eastern Visayas. It affected about 16 million people, damaged 1.14 million houses, and left a P95.48-billion damage.
The Department of Agriculture’s DRRM Operations Center said damage to agriculture as of noon yesterday was at P2.6 billion, the biggest destruction done by a weather disturbance to farms and fisheries this year.
The agency said cost of damage is equivalent to 87,640.5 metric tons (MT) of agricultural goods tended by 34,747 farmers and fishers in 60,451 hectares of affected areas.
Odette has left about P585.8 million in damage to infrastructure as of December 22, the Department of Public Works and Highways said. Of the amount, P231.9 million was recorded in Mimaropa, P35.5 million in Western Visayas, P173.4 million in Eastern Visayas and P145 million in Caraga.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said 78 percent of fuel retail stations in Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Caraga are operational but 369 from these regions are still closed due to several factors including power outage, flooding, infrastructure damage and manpower shortage.
Petron assured the public it has sufficient fuel inventory in the regions and is working double time to repair and re-open service stations.
PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom yesterday restored telecom services in in Siargao and Surigao del Norte.
PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. said they have reconnected Dapa town in Siargao as they fired up communication equipment near the Surigao del Norte provincial capitol sub-office and reestablished communication in nearby communities, making Smart the first mobile service provider to restore voice calls and text messages in the area.
Earlier on Tuesday, the PLDT group has also restored communication services including 5G in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan becoming the first telco to enable residents to make calls, send text messages and connect to the internet in the aftermath of super typhoon Odette. — With Jed Macapagal, Myla Iglesias, Raymond Africa and Wendell Vigilia
