Palace sounds call for ‘bayanihan’

Help now, blame later.

Malacañang on Monday sounded the call for nationwide “bayanihan,” saying now was not the time to look for someone to blame over the extent of damage wrought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

“Now is not the time to blame each other, now is not the time for squabbling (bangayan),” Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras told reporters, saying relief and rescue operations remained the priority.

“Let’s make sure those who survived will survive and let’s provide for them.”

Almendras steered clear of suggestions the national government might be blaming local executives for their failure to sufficiently prepare for Yolanda, one of the strongest typhoons in recorded history.

“It’s not that we’re being defensive [but] we tried our very best to warn everybody. But it’s really overwhelming, especially the storm surge,” he said, citing a Tacloban resident who had told him: “We were ready for the wind. We’re not new to typhoons. We were not ready for the water.”

Medical teams

The Department of Health (DOH) has sent medical teams to Tacloban City to take over hospital operations and allow the local staff, who are victims themselves, to rest and take care of their families.

“The idea is to make the health system function again,” Health Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa said in a briefing on Monday. “Our first goal is to make the hospitals function, especially if they are not structurally damaged.”

As mandated in the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, the DOH has taken over Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center and will assist Bethany Hospital, Tacloban City Hospital and Leyte Provincial Hospital.

Public health teams were sent to bring hygiene kits directly to affected communities as well as a team from the National Center for Mental Health for psychosocial counseling.

Around P15 million worth of medicines, medical supplies, hygiene kits, cot beds, tents and other emergency supplies were immediately made available to DOH regional offices in areas expected to be in the path of Yolanda.

As of Monday, the DOH had also sent 800 cadaver boxes.

Doctor on Boats

The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) has also activated its Doctor on Boats program. Instead of rubber boats, they will now be deploying a barge with a 1,000-ton capacity that can carry about 15 10-wheeler trucks to deliver relief items and provide medical assistance, said Dr. Leo Olarte, PMA president.

The PMA is accepting donations and volunteers. The barge will leave for Leyte province on Nov. 19 and will stay for a week.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will lend 700 generator sets to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to be used as the temporary power source in Tacloban and other areas devastated by Yolanda in eastern Visayas.

In a resolution, the Comelec en banc on Monday said it would donate some 80,000 portable and rechargeable batteries to the NDRRMC as the poll body’s contribution to the government relief efforts.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it had initially extended P10.6 million worth of relief assistance to the regions of Bicol, western Visayas, central Visayas, northern Mindanao and Caraga.

In Tacloban, the DSWD, in coordination with the local government, set up a satellite Internet service at City Hall to enable the public to communicate with relatives.

“The relief operations are hampered by the lack of communication and inaccessibility of the worst-hit towns, cities and barangays (villages), but we from the DSWD and other government agencies are doing our best to reach the affected population,” Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said.—With reports from Erika Sauler, Jerry E. Esplanada and Cynthia D. Balana in Manila; and Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon