‘Paeng’ death toll now 121
BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and VICTOR REYES
PRESIDENT President Marcos Jr. yesterday placed four regions under a state of calamity for six months following the devastation brought by severe tropical storm “Paeng” which has so far left 121 persons dead.
These are Calabarzon (Region IV-A), Bicol (Region V), Western Visayas (Region VI), and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) which reported the highest number of fatalities at 61.
Marcos, in Proclamation No. 84, said that from October 26 to 29 at height of Paeng, at least 1.4 million people from Calabarzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, and BARMM were adversely affected.
Western Visayas recorded 29 deaths, according to the the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), while Calabarzon has 12 and Bicol, one.
The rest of the fatalities are from Eastern Visayas (five), Zamboanga Peninsula (four), Soccsksargen (three), Mimaropa (two), and one each in Central Luzon, Bicol, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
The NDRRMC said 36 persons are still missing.
Paeng left the country last Monday.
Marcos, in the proclamation, said other areas may be declared under a state of calamity depending on the damage from Paeng and based on recommendations from the NDRRMC.
He directed government agencies to continue the implementation of rescue, relief, and rehabilitation measures in the affected areas, and to coordinate with local government units (LGUs) in providing basic services and facilities in the affected areas.
He also ordered law enforcement agencies, with support from the Armed Forces, to undertake all measures to ensure peace and order in the affected areas.
The NDRRMC, in a situational report, said the 61 deaths in BARMM are all in the worst-hit Maguindanao province.
It also said the number of fatalities may further increase as the Office of Civil Defense-Calabarzon has already reported 32 deaths as of Tuesday, or 20 more than what the NDRRMC reported in the region.
The PNP Western Visayas has recorded 32 deaths in the region, three more that the NDRRMC figure.
Of the 121 deaths reported by NDRRMC, 92 have been confirmed while the rest are still subject to validation. The deaths are mostly due to flooding and landslides,
The NDRRMC said of the 92 confirmed deaths, 61 are in BARMM, 28 in Western Visayas and three in Soccsksargen.
The NDRRMC also said Paeng injured 103 people, including 40 in Maguindanao in BARMM, 16 in Eastern Visayas,14 in Bicol and 11 in Central Luzon.
Of the 36 missing, 17 were reported in Maguindanao, 11 in Western Visayas, two in Calabarzon, and one each in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Eastern Visayas, Soccsksargen and CAR.
The NDRRMC said Paeng has affected 927,822 families or 3,180,132 individuals in 7,341 barangays in the country’s 17 regions. Of the number, 327,523 families or 869,278 individuals are in 2,728 evacuation centers or living with their relatives or friends.
It said 2,104 houses were “totally damaged” and 9,190 others were “partially damaged.” It placed the cost of damage to houses at P12.78 million.
Maj. Gen. Roy Galido, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said 21 of the Maguindanao fatalities were retrieved at a landslide area in Barangay Kusiong in Datu Odin Sinsuat town.
At the “Laging Handa” public briefing, Galido also said four are still in missing in the landslide area based on information from community leaders and elders.
“Our effort now is recovery. For the past five days, we’re here at the site trying to recover possible survivors. But at this point, on the fifth day, the probability of finding survivors is too low already,” said Galido.
Galido said troops and military assets are still deployed, helping in the distribution of relief goods to those affected by Paeng in Maguindanao and other areas in Central Mindanao.
“Flooding in Maguindanao has already subsided so the effort now is the delivery of relief goods,” said Galido.
Galido said air assets are used in the delivery of relief goods in the coastal towns of Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao.
ANTIQUE ISOLATED
In the same briefing, Antique Gov. Rhodora Cadiao said the province is isolated, noting that the bridges connecting the Antique to the provinces of Aklan and Iloilo were damaged.
“As of now, our province is an island,” said Cadiao adding concerned officials said it may take about two weeks to fix the bridges.
“Our problem is we don’t have enough gasoline. If this will take two weeks to repair the bridges, we may have shortage (of gasoline),” she said.
Cadiao also said the government is distributing relief goods to about 148,000 individuals affected by Paeng in the province.
She said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has provided only 2,000 food packs which she said is not enough. She said DSWD has promised to send more food packs.
Cadiao said some sitios were also isolated due to damaged hanging and foot bridges.
Cadiao also said the three island-barangays of Maniguin, Batbatan and Malalison in Culasi town are appealing for food.
“They have to rice, no water, no dry food,” said Cadiao. “I requested OCD (Office of Civil Defense) to send a Navy boat to bring water (and food) there,” said she said.
Cadiao said 90 percent of fishing boats in the barangays were reported destroyed. She said residents in these areas rely on fishing as their source of livelihood.
The Department of Trade and Industry assured affected areas of the availability of supply of basic necessities in calamity-stricken areas.
The DTI said it coordinating with the Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers, composed of manufacturers and retailers of basic necessities and prime commodities (BNPC), to guarantee timely and constant replenishment of goods in the typhoon-affected areas.
The DTI, which is chair of the National Price Coordinating Council, said it is continuously conducting intensified monitoring of prices and supply of BNPCs and ensuring the submission of daily situational monitoring reports from its provincial and regional offices.
At the House, the initial “in kind” donations for typhoon victims has reached P26 million while cash donations and pledges for the relief drive has reached P49.2 million, or a total of over P75 million as Tuesday.
The Office of the Speaker said hat as of November 1, the partial total value of in kind donations such as food items, blankets, and toiletries was at least P26.3 million.
The fund drive was led by Speaker Romualdez; his wife, Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez (PL, Tingog), chair of the committee on accounts; Rep. Zaldy Co (PL, Ako Bicol), chair of the committee on appropriations; and majority leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, and other House leaders.
DAMAGE TO AGRI
The NDRRMC said cost of damage to agriculture in Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and CAR was placed at P1.27 billion.
On the other hand, the cost of damage to infrastructure in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen and CAR was pegged at P896.85 million.
The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center said damage to agriculture has reached P1.33 billion as of October 31, or equivalent to 66,963 metric tons of goods in 64,607 hectares of affected areas in CAR, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula and Soccsksargen.
Bulk of Paeng’s recorded damage is from rice at P1.23 billion, followed by high-value crops at P60 million, agricultural infrastructureP20.6 million, fisheries P16 million, corn P5.59 million, and livestock and poultry at P1.92 million.
POWER PLANTS
The Department of Energy (DOE) said all three on-grid power plants affected by Paeng have been restored as of yesterday but the National Power Corp. is still waiting for nine diesel power plants to be back to normal operations pending the restoration of local distribution lines and the restoration of a 69 kiloVolt (kV) transmission line and substation in Marinduque.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) also completed the restoration of power transmission operations in Luzon on Monday night.
NGCP said it normalized transmission services in the provinces of Benguet, Mountain Province, Pangasinan, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Laguna, Quezon, Batangas, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon, Northern Samar, Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Aklan and Antique.
As for the National Electrification Administration (NEA), the agency said at least 96 electric cooperatives (ECs) were affected by Paeng but only 33 were experiencing partial power interruption.
The Manila Electric Co. said all affected facilities has been restored to normal operations as of yesterday. Meralco said it recorded momentary and sustained power interruptions affecting a total of over 4 million customers across its franchise area during the height of Paeng’s onslaught.
DISEASES
The Department of Health (DOH) said it is closely monitoring potential increases in cases of water- and mosquito-borne diseases in the affected areas, like cholera, typhoid, leptospirosis, and dengue.
“Such diseases usually emerge after incidents of typhoon and flooding,” said Dr Alethea de Guzman, director of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau.
Based on latest DOH data, 4,102 cholera cases were reported this year, which is 254 percent higher compared to the 2,943 cases reported during the same period in 2021.
Typhoid cases in the country are also up by 150 percent, and is at 12,124 for 2022 from 7,280 for 2021.
There are 2,560 reported leptospirosis cases this year, or 66 percent higher than the 1,014 cases during the same period in 2021.
Dengue cases are also higher by 191 percent, with 119,360 cases reported this year from only 61,079 in 2021.
As of the latest data from the Health Emergency Management Bureau, the most common illnesses in typhoon-hit areas are acute and upper respiratory infections, with 12 consultations.
Others are cough and colds (68), wounds (50), skin diseases (16), bruises (15), fever (11), hypertension (9), and acute gastroenteritis (7). — With Irma Isip, Jed Macapagal, Wendell Vigilia, and Gerard Naval
