FRESNO, CALIFORNIA (VIA PLDT)?President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Monday issued seven directives, including the giving of assistance to victims of the MV Princess of the Stars sinking by the government and the ship?s owner, and the opening of donation accounts by Philippine embassies in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
The President cut short a speech before the Filipino community here to preside over a teleconference with the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) in Manila about Saturday?s sinking of the ferry owned by Sulpicio Lines off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province at the height of Typhoon ?Frank? (international codename: Fengshen).
Some 900 Filipino-Americans witnessed the 20-minute meeting between Ms Arroyo at the International Convention Center and Vice President Noli de Castro and NDCC officials in Malacańang.
Ms Arroyo, who is on a 10-day official trip to the United States, ordered continued rescue efforts for the missing ship passengers. When a Coast Guard official reported that 28 survivors were found, she said: ?Oh, praise God!?
Sulpicio Lines owner Ed Go, whom De Castro invited to join the meeting, reported a total of 862 people, including 724 passengers, on board the vessel. Ten bodies and four survivors have been found, Go said.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza confirmed that the Philippine government was considering asking for US assistance in rescue and relief operations.
?Our disaster officials are in close touch with their American counterparts to determine the nature and extent of assistance that the US may provide. I have talked on the phone with Ambassador Kristie Kenney on this and she confirmed that our AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and disaster officials are adequately addressing the present needs,? Dureza told reporters.
Bills vs rice hoarding
In a series of directives, the President:
? Asked lawmakers in her delegation to file bills making rice hoarding and profiteering as a crime of economic sabotage, with disaster as aggravating circumstance, and imposing a maximum rice price during a state of calamity while giving a decent return for farmers and traders, as well as no forced sale of hoarded rice.
? Ordered government aid for the ferry victims and asked the congressmen to give assistance as well to victims who are their constituents.
? Directed the Department of Foreign Affairs to open disaster relief donation accounts in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and ordered the National Computer Center and the Philippine Information Agency to ensure that the NDCC website and text numbers work.
? Ordered that pending a review of Philippine Coast Guard protocols, no vessels would be allowed to sail if they would pass through possible typhoon paths. She ordered Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza to ground all Sulpicio Lines ships.
? Assigned NDCC official Glen Rabonza to coordinate with Sulpicio Lines to get and release information about the ferry victims.
Compensation for victims
During the teleconference, Go said the company would compensate the victims. ?Our company is committed to compensate the victims, bring them to the provinces and their hometowns and (give their families) whatever expenses. Our company will take care of all the expenses,? he said.
In Manila, a Philippine Air Force (PAF) cargo plane took off three times Monday to bring tons of relief goods, including food, clothing and blankets, and rescue motorboats to Iloilo City, one of the areas badly hit by Frank. Six UH-1H choppers from the Mactan Air Base were also sent to Panay Island to assist in relief operations.
The command established an operations center to control and supervise all relief and rescue missions hailing from Manila.
Five helicopters took off one after another from 6:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. Monday to help in search and rescue operations near the site where the ferry sank off Sibuyan. Underwater rescuers from the PAF?s 505th Search and Rescue Group were among two teams airlifted to the area.
Rice ?bombardment?
Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap directed the National Food Authority to immediately double its rice distribution in typhoon-hit areas, including Iloilo, Cebu and certain provinces in Bicol and Mindanao.
Because of its sufficient inventories coming from bumper summer harvests and rice imports, the NFA can engage in a ?selective bombardment? of rice stocks anywhere at any given time, to stabilize prices and ensure a steady supply, Yap said.
Earlier, agriculture officials said initial palay harvests in the first half of the year had already exceeded the government target of 7.1 million tons.
Thousands of displaced families in Western Visayas are in need of kitchen utensils, water containers and candles, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Flying to Iloilo Monday to check on the plight of the victims, Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral found that the families lacked candles, flashlights, batteries, blankets and mosquito nets. Other items listed by the victims were drinking water, gas, lamps and mats, she said.
Monday, the DSWD distributed P3 million worth of relief goods to families stranded in Metro Manila.
The Catholic Bishops? Conference of the Philippines? Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace is preparing a relief package worth P300,000 for Iloilo.
The Department of Health said it shipped out P500,000 worth of medicines and supplies, including oral rehydration medicines and food packs to Western Visayas.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who surveyed the region Monday, warned evacuees of communicable diseases in evacuation centers.
Sailing prohibition
While the NDCC officials were reporting to her, Ms Arroyo was leafing through some papers from her rostrum. Then she told the Coast Guard official that his report to her the previous day that the ship had no prohibition from sailing through the storm was not true.
As she spoke in front of the crowd of mostly professional Filipino-Americans dressed in their Sunday best and barong tagalog, Ms Arroyo spoke in a much calmer voice. On Saturday, she fumed during another teleconference upon her arrival in San Francisco when she demanded to know why the ship was allowed to sail despite the storm.
?I?m just looking at the guidelines ? if any vessel is scheduled to depart and the operator of the vessel should study carefully the typhoon movement to ensure that the vessel will not be within the area directly affected by the typhoon signals 1, 2, 3 and 4 within the danger sector until they reach their destination. So it?s not true what you said that there was no prohibition. It?s in your guidelines,? she told the Coast Guard official.
?And then furthermore, No. 3, no vessel shall sail except to take shelter if a public storm signal warning is hoisted in the point of origin, the route, and the point of destination. So it?s not true what you said Monday that there are no absolute prohibitions. There are,? she said.
Irritation, impatience
The President displayed only slight irritation and impatience when Rabonza gave a report on the relief operations when she was asking about the casualties and damage of the typhoon.
?We?re still on the consolidated damage then rescue and relief and later the restoration. First let us look at the damage, we have to look for them (missing passengers), then when it subsides we start with relief and reconstruction, right? Let?s have the report on the damage now,? she said.
Rabonza reported 52 dead, 39 injured and 85 missing, but these did not include the ferry victims.
Philippine Consul General to San Francisco Marciano Paynor Jr. said the President?s visit to Fresno was a sort of homecoming since her last visit in 1999 when she was the Vice President.
?Our kababayan in America form a dynamic human bridge that joins the Philippines and the United States, and that connects our past with our future. You have grown in numbers. You have attained the pinnacle of the professions. You are increasingly self-confident, articulate and visible. You have become more involved in the vibrant national life that makes America such a truly remarkable country,? Ms Arroyo told the audience.
Fil-Am help
?You have done so without losing your bonds of affection for your mother country or your inherent pride in your Filipino heritage. Every year, Filipino-Americans extend all forms of assistance for your old schools, home towns, provinces and local organizations. Form medical and dental missions, to educational and Internet support, to humanitarian and charitable causes, Filipino-Americans are ever ready to help the land of your forefathers.?
?Now, there is a need again for your help. There is a typhoon in the Philippines and we are hoping everybody to help,? she said in Filipino.
Ms Arroyo arrived late by about 30 minutes for the Mass and program at the International Convention Center from her first activity at the Community Regional Medical Center. In the private hospital, she met with Filipino nurses, doctors and caregivers to thank them for their dedication.
Some 2,000 or 65 percent of the hospital nurses are Filipinos.
Ms Arroyo left Fresno after lunch for Washington where she would meet with US President George W. Bush, and rival presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. With reports from Tarra Quismundo, Amy R. Remo, Jocelyn R. Uy and Kristine L. Alave in Manila
