This handout photo taken on December 25, 2022 and received on December 26 from the Philippine Coast Guard shows rescuers evacuating people from a flooded area in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental. (Photo from Philippine Coast Guard / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said he would “try to make the time” to visit the areas reeling from the shear line-induced heavy rains and floods during the Christmas weekend.
Asked if he plans to visit the hard hit communities after his scheduled state visit to China from Jan. 3 to 5 next year, Marcos said he will likely do so “if there is a reason to go.”
“Unfortunately, tuloy-tuloy pa rin ‘yong ulan (the rains are continuous), so we have to keep watching the other areas also. But yes, probably if there is a reason to go. I think that, so far, our social services have done their job. But it always helps to go and see for yourself. So I’ll try to make the time to go,” he said in a video shared on his Instagram stories.
The shear line, or the point where warm air and cold air meet, triggered serious rainfall and widespread floods over southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao in the past few days.
At least 39 people were killed, 12 were injured and 25 are still missing from the tragedy that disrupted the Christmas celebrations of around 130,844 families or 503,802 individuals, according to the national disaster agency’s situation report as of 6 p.m.
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