Aquino orders Cabinet to exert ‘maximum effort’

President Benigno Aquino. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday ordered his Cabinet to exert “maximum effort” in providing services to people affected by the continuous inclement weather experienced in Metro Manila and nine other provinces in Luzon.

The directive was made during a cabinet meeting at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo which was aired on the government TV network.

Aquino also ordered local government units to deploy their barangay (village) captains to conduct a check or roll call in their areas of responsibility to ensure that all their constituents are safe.

“Baka sa sobrang daming lugar na apektado, at sabay-sabay, baka may nakakaligtaan (Maybe there are so many areas affected simultaneously, we might have overlooked some places also),” Aquino told his Cabinet Secretaries during the meeting.

He also highlighted the importance of ensuring food security especially in areas affected by flooding and landslides caused by the continuous rains.

Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said they have P12.994 million funds set aside for relief operations.

Likewise, Soliman said the Department of Social Welfare and Development has a stand-by supply totaling P40 million, P35 million of which are goods and P5 million are cash funds.

For his part, Department of Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, said they are looking into the possibility of increasing the number of electrical circuits shut down in areas affected by the heavy rains.

He said that as of 9 am on Tuesday, they have 34 circuits disconnected and they might shut-down more depending on the situation. He added that they have reports of brownouts in Oriental Mindoro and Lubang Island due to flooding.

Aquino asked Almendras if electricity supply will be immediately restored once flooding subsides or rains stop, Almendras said yes. However, he said that it is difficult to ensure the safety of houses and it takes time to ensure that circuits in private residences have completely dried.

“Last time it took one and a half days before electricity was restored in some areas,” Almedras said.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said that they have deployed 200 rubber boats, 20 trucks and one troop carrier has also been deployed for rescue operations in the National Capital Region and nearby provinces.