19 dead, 1 million people affected

MANILA, Philippines — The death toll from intense rains that have been battering Metro Manila and nearby provinces since Monday has risen to 19.

In a meeting with President Benigno Aquino III Wednesday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council presented the updated official count of the fatalities to the chief executive.

Nine of those killed during the onslaught of rains were buried by a landslide in Quezon City Tuesday morning.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that most of the deaths were due to drowning and electrocution.

 
He said that some drowning incidents could have been prevented.

The fatalities were Jayson Baylon, 16; Jayvee Baylon, 20; Jissele Baylon,7, and Cecilia Baylon, 50; Jonathan Castulo, 3; Junica Castulo, 3 weeks old; Jessica and Jethro Baylon and Joshua Castulo, from a landslide incident in Commonwealth; Darel Flores,9 from ekectrocution in Pampanga; and Ariem Menes,19 from Poblacion in Zambales due to drowning.

Batangas reported two fatalities – sisters Ana Marie Pansipane,7, and Ana May Pansipane, 9, from Tanauan – who drowned.

Caloocan reported one dead but the victim could not yet be identified.

Affected persons in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa and National Capital Region were 267,850 families or 1,230,813 persons.

Displaced persons, who were outside and inside evacuation centers, were 163,007 families or 783,707 persons.

Meanwhile, there were a total of 90 municipalities in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and NCR inundated by floods.

As of Tuesday 10 p.m., there were 126 impassable roads in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Western Visayas, Cordillera and NCR due to flooding.

Ipo, Ambuklao, Binga, San Roque and Magat also continued to open their gates, while La Mesa Dam in Quezon City remained overflowing at 80.41 meters, over and above its spilling level of 80.15 meters.

San Manuel, San Nicolas, Tayug, Sta Maris, Asingan, Villasis, Alcala, Bautista, Rosales and Bayambang in Pangasinannwere likely to be affected when these dams release water, as well as Ramon, San Mateo, Aurora, Cabanatuan, Luna, Reins, Mercedes, Burgos, Naguilian and Gamu in Isabela; Norzagaray and Hangonoy in Bulacan.

The Deparment of Social Welfare and Development released P12.92million worth of relief assistance.

More than 5,000 personnel from the military, police and coast guard were deployed for support, the NDRRMC said.

Declared under state of calamity were Laguna, Bataan, Pampanga and Zambales.