Despite aid funding gaps in the provinces hit hardest by Typhoon Pablo, the Philippines has shown “a model best practice” for coordination with the international community in responding to a disaster of such magnitude, a senior United Nations humanitarian official said this week as he appealed for more aid for the victims.
To avoid charges of politicking, the Department of Social Welfare and Development should suspend relief operations in disaster areas and conflict zones during the campaign period for local elections, Commission on Elections chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Tuesday.
Three persons were confirmed killed in a landslide in Mati City in Davao Oriental on Tuesday noon. Richard Villacorte, administrator of the city of Mati, said that as of 5 p.m., three persons have been confirmed killed in the landslide that struck a portion of the highway in the village of Tagabacid.
Local authorities on Tuesday urged residents of flood-prone areas in Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley to move to safer ground as tropical depression “Crising” approached southern Mindanao.
Two persons were killed in a landslide on Friday morning while quarrying for limestone in Poro town, Camotes Island, northeast of Cebu City.
Coconut farmers in the town of Baganga in Davao Oriental are asking the Philippine Coconut Authority to help them recover from the devastation left by Typhoon Pablo last December by allowing them to sell fallen coconut trees outside the province without having to pay any fees.
Angry typhoon-affected residents protested at the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development here on Tuesday to call for the ouster of Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman for the “corruption and inept implementation” of relief and rehabilitation operations in areas devastated by typhoon Pablo (international code name Bopha).
“Don’t blame poor Filipinos for what’s wrong with the weather,” Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said as he lashed at critics who blamed illegal logging for the worst flooding that inundated some areas in Davao in water for the whole week.
Some 50,000 students in the public schools destroyed by Typhoon “Pablo” will graduate on schedule despite having to finish the school year in makeshift classrooms.
Almost a month after typhoon Pablo (Bopha) flattened this town on Dec. 4, officials here urged residents to unite in the face of the daunting tasks of rebuilding and reconstruction, admitting that it would take them some time to get over the loss of lives and property.
For 128 years, the old church here has been standing like a sentinel near a promontory facing the Pacific Ocean, as if guarding this seaside town from intruders from the sea.
The National Democratic Front (NDF) has assured relief volunteers of their safety in hinterland villages devastated by typhoon “Pablo.”
Dominga Daipan’s only wish this Christmas is to serve pansit (noodles) as noche buena to her seven children.
