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The chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan, has directed the heads of the entire Directorate of Integrated Police Operations (DIPOS) to lead the post-disaster clean-up, relief and rehabilitation operations of the offices of Regional and provincial police in areas devastated by Super Typhoon Rolly. .
Cascolan, who was heading to Bicol on Monday to personally verify the ongoing response effort in the region, ordered police units to begin clearing roads and other avenues to allow the smooth passage of emergency services, caravans relief and commercial charges.
CamSur, the attraction of Albay
Officials from Camarines Sur and Albay on Monday asked for help and immediate assistance from the national government for the thousands of families most affected by the super typhoon Rolly.
Camarines Sur representative Luis Raymund Villafuerte, in a press release, said that 80,000 families in the 35 municipalities of the province and one city need immediate help from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the National Housing Authority, as they are now recovering from the triple blow following typhoons Rolly and Quinta and the persistent coronavirus pandemic.
Citing the preliminary damage report issued by Luzena Bermeo of the secretariat of the Provincial Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRMC), Villafuerte said that since October 30, the provincial government has already begun to evacuate 54,376 families from the High-risk barangays, particularly the ones that were targeted a week ago by Supertyphoon Quinta.
‘Bayanihan’ Spirit
“In the spirit of Bayanihan, the PNP is linking its weapons with local government units, state agencies and NGOs in the reconstruction [areas] and emerging from the devastation left by Typhoon Rolly, ”Cascolan said.
The PNP chief said they would also help the Department of Commerce and Industry enforce a price freeze on basic goods and essential goods in areas that will be declared in a state of calamity.
He explained that under Republic Law 7581, or the Philippine Price Law, automatic price control is in effect in areas that are declared in a state of calamity for a period of no more than 60 days.
In addition to basic necessities and premium commodities listed or supervised by the Department of Commerce and Industry, the law also covers those that are under the regulations of the Departments of Agriculture and Health, such as rice, sugar, poultry products. , dairy products, cooking oil. , cooking fuel, medicines and medical supplies.
Cascolan also assured police units, whose offices and equipment were damaged by Rolly, of assistance to resume normal operations at their facilities.
“As soon as all the damage assessment reports are in, we can begin restoration work on the damaged PNP facilities,” he said.
AFP’s turn
In the Armed Forces of the Philippines, soldiers are conducting damage assessments in the worst affected areas such as Catanduanes, Legazpi City, Camarines and Samar del Norte provinces.
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Gen. Gilbert Gapay, said that the entire army unit in Bicol, the Bicolandia Joint Task Force, has been deployed to search, recovery and rescue (SRR) operations. internal security.
All Army battalions in the region, the 31st IB in Sorsogon, the 49th IB in Guinobatan, the 2nd IB in Masbate, the 83rd IB in Virac, the 9th IB in Camarines Sur and the 9th IB in Camarines Norte were ordered to assist local officials in disaster response operations.
More than 5,000 active duty personnel and 3,000 reservists and auxiliary forces have been initially deployed for disaster response missions in the worst affected areas.
Still, Gapay ordered that all units in the affected areas be on alert for possible atrocities that the New People’s Army may carry out.
Initial damage assessment
PDRRMC’s initial report revealed that Rolly affected some 251,000 families, a total of 1,025,770 people in the province’s 1,036 barangays.
The typhoon also affected 24,458 farmers and wiped out P752 million in palay, corn and high-value crops; 34,350 fishermen and P13.3 million damaged in municipal and continental fishing populations; and destroyed P1.9 billion in infrastructure such as roads, bridges, dams, irrigation systems, and school buildings.
According to the same PDRRMC report, the cyclone flooded 186 barangays in 29 municipalities; 20,658 houses totally damaged and 55,515 houses partially damaged; and left the city of Iriga and the 35 municipalities without electricity; 7 municipalities with interrupted water supply and 13 municipalities without communication lines.
The greatest damage from Typhoon Quinta was also reported on CamSur, with an estimated 4,400 hectares of palay farms destroyed and valued at P225 million.
“We are asking for immediate help from the President for the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Rolly, in particular for the 80,000 most severely affected families in the province’s 1,036 barangays, many of whom have partially or totally lost their homes due to this’ Category 5 extremely powerful “cyclone that struck Bicol a week after the Supertyphoon Quinta attack,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte said CamSur was the worst hit province when super typhoon Rolly hit the province last weekend with maximum winds of 225 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 310 kilometers per hour.
He said the province’s palay growers have also been severely affected as they were about to harvest their crops in the next few weeks before the Supertiphon struck last weekend.
Meanwhile, the governor of Camarines Sur, Migz Villafuerte, said that the 80,000 severely affected families in the province in the 35 municipalities and the city of Iriga need immediate assistance.
In a letter to President Duterte, Governor Villafuerte requested assistance in the form of available DSWD funds and other available funding sources for his proposed P3,000 to P5,000 cash assistance for each of the 80,000 severely affected families.
“We also seek the help of the NHA through its Emergency Housing Assistance Program. [EHAP] for many of our people whose houses have been totally or partially destroyed, ”said the governor in his letter to the President.
Meanwhile, Albay’s representative Edcel Lagman said that five of the six local government units (LGUs) of the first Albay district are inaccessible by all forms of communication after they were devastated by Super Typhoon Rolly on November 1, 2020. .
“All except the Municipality of Sto. Sunday, the five LGUs are Tabaco City, Bacacay, Malinao, Malilipot and Tiwi, where Rolly made landfall for the second time. The maximum signal number 5 was placed on these five LGUs, ”he said.
Tabaco City Mayor Krisel Lagman said nearly 50 percent of residential homes are in various stages of disrepair, but 50 percent of homes on San Miguel Island are totally damaged.
“Ninety percent of the fishing grounds used for livelihoods have been razed and completely destroyed,” he said.
“The public market in the city of Tabaco had no roof. The Manalang house [Bahay na Bato], which was built in the 19th century and declared a heritage house in 2007, did not have a roof either. Almost 50 percent of the roofs of all school buildings have been damaged, ”he added.
In the city of Tabaco alone, Lagman said there were 7,000 families, or 25,000 people, who were under preventive evacuation, and many of them have no more homes to return to because their homes have been destroyed by Rolly.
He said several river levees have also been destroyed and nearly 70 percent of the poles of cooperative power lines have fallen.
“Even the roof of the 17th century Tabaco Catholic Parish Church has been blown up. The Diocese of Tabaco was established 400 years ago, ”he added.
No fatalities
Contrary to initial reports, Edcel Lagman said there are no fatalities in the Tiwi and Malinao municipalities in the first Albay district.
Lagman said there are also no fatalities in Bacacay, Malilipot and Sto. Sunday.
“The zero casualties in these units of the local government is confirmed by the Regional Director Claudio Yucut of the Office of Civil Defense,” he said.
According to Lagman, the reported death of a National Food Authority security guard in the city of Tabaco is not related to a typhoon because he suffered a fatal stroke and is a resident of Bacacay, Albay. The only victim who drowned in the Bombón River in the city of Tabaco is a resident of Tiwi, Albay, not of the city of Tabaco.
