People living in areas devastated by Typhoon “Pablo” in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental will be casting their votes inside huge tents used as temporary learning spaces instead of classrooms, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Negotiations between survivors of typhoon Pablo and the Department of Social Welfare and Development on the delivery of relief goods ended on Wednesday night, breaking days of tensions and skirmishes between local authorities and the communities.
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).
Chance favors the prepared mind,” scientist Louis Pasteur taught. Many were unprepared for killer typhoons “Sendong” and “Pablo.” Sendong’s death toll topped 1,453. That made it the “world’s deadliest storm in 2011.” A year later, “Pablo” proved the “world’s deadliest,” notes “Global Catastrophe Recap.” It left 1,901 dead plus P37 billion in damages.
The Government Service Insurance System said the deadline for the filing of applications for the emergency loans of those affected by typhoon “Pablo” has been extended by two weeks until Jan. 18.
Maria Rodriguez, 65, walks around what was once her community in Ban-ao here. After finding what she was looking for, she picks them up, then walks to her new home—a tent.
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.
As schools here open on Monday, a week behind schedule, teachers are faced with the tough challenge on how to lure back students still coping with the devastation brought by typhoon Pablo.
Difficulties arising from natural calamities that hit the country last year prompted some 524,000 members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS) to take out a total of P9 billion in emergency loans.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is preparing to have a hazard-free and disaster-free year ahead.
Electric cooperatives officials took turns, on Saturday, in criticizing the power industry’s big three – the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) and the National Power Corp. (NPC)—for their “sluggish response” in restoring full power supply in areas devastated by typhoon Pablo, particularly Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Surigao del Norte and Agusan del Sur.
The December 18 road accident in Davao Oriental — which injured six Maguindanao doctors and their driver on the way to a medical mission for typhoon Pablo victims — has not deterred the province’s health workers from holding another mission there, the Maguindanao provincial health chief said on Friday.
In the predominantly Catholic Philippines, the first signs of Christmas appear months before the actual event: shops playing Christmas carols on their audio loops, brightly decorated trees, neon Santas and reindeers are colorfully displayed outside shops and plazas. It is hard to get away from the holiday over-load.
