Ursula damage to E. Visayas police buildings estimated at P5M

An Eastern Visayas police building damaged by Typhoon Ursula. (Photo from the Facebook account of Eastern Visayas PRO)

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines — Typhoon Ursula, internationally known as Phanfone, has caused damage amounting to about P5.4 million on several buildings under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Visayas Police Regional Office (PRO 8).

According to a report from the regional police headquarters in Palo town in Leyte, among the structures damaged were police stations in the provinces of Leyte, Samar, Eastern Samar, Biliran and the cities of Ormoc and Tacloban.

The regional headquarters also sustained damage to various buildings with an estimated cost of P528,784.

The cost of damage are broken down as follows:

• Eastern Samar: P1.68 million
• Samar: P1.67 million
• Leyte: P1.27 million
• Biliran: P250,000
• Tacloban: P24,900
• Ormoc: P34,400

The buildings of these police stations had damaged gutters, ceilings, scaffoldings, roofs, lampposts, and doors.

Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Divina, police regional director, assured the public, however, that law enforcement would not be hampered.

“The damage caused by Ursula will not hamper our effective and efficient delivery of public service to the community,” Divina said.

He expressed optimism that central headquarters would immediately release funds for the repair of the damaged structures.

Ursula killed 13 people in Eastern Visayas, injured more than 200 people, and affected more than 230,000 families composed 960,000 individuals on Christmas Eve.

/atm