OVER a million people displaced by super typhoon “Pepito” have started returning to their homes, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said yesterday.
Worst hit by Pepito was Catanduanes where President Marcos Jr., in a visit yesterday, handed over P50 million to the provincial government, along with other relief assistance for affected communities.
Eleven of the 16 municipalities in Catanduanes were severely affected by Pepito.
OCD director Ariel Nepomuceno said some 380,860 families or 1.35 million individuals have been preemptively evacuated ahead of the onslaught of Pepito.
“Many heeded our call for preemptive evacuation … But as of yesterday, they have begun returning home. The situation is already okay,” said Nepomuceno, also executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
Nepomuceno did not give figures as to the number of people who have gone to government shelters. Many of those who preemptively evacuated went to their relatives and friends, according to the NDRRMC.
On damaged houses and other structures like school buildings and commercial establishments, he said, “We still don’t have the number but many houses were damaged based on the photos and videos (taken during an aerial survey). Roofs of houses were blown away.”
“Fortunately no one died in Catanduanes,” he said, adding the province also does not have a problem bringing supplies for those affected in Catanduanes because the airport and the seaport in the province are functional.
Seven persons died due to landslide in Ambaguio town in Nueva Vizcaya last Saturday, the provincial disaster risk reduction and management office said.
Nepomuceno said five were reported missing — three in Nueva Vizcaya and two in Nueva Ecija.
He said initial information placed the cost of damage to agriculture and infrastructure at P248 million and P470 million, respectively in three regions – Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, and Cordillera Administrative Region.
Nepomuceno also said Pepito and recent successive tropical cyclones are taking a toll on responders, many of whom are “tired” and “some of them have gotten sick.”
The President, accompanied in Catanduanes by Gov. Joseph Cua and several Cabinet members, directed government agencies to restore communications and power systems and repair infrastructure.
Marcos also committed to help rehabilitate the abaca industry as many agricultural lands including abaca plantations had been affected by the typhoon.
Apart from the P50 million handed to Cua, the President led the distribution of P633,000 worth of family food packs and P2.5 million in cash aid under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis (AICS) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development to Catanduanes residents.
The President assured the typhoon survivors that the government would continue to provide humanitarian aid as long as they need it or at least until they have recovered from the impact of the successive storms in the country.
