Eduardo del Rosario. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Amid the reported confusion over the death toll from Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international codename: Haiyan), National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) chairman Eduardo del Rosario announced that from now on, figures related to the disaster would only come from “one voice” – the NDRRMC.
In a televised press briefing Friday, Del Rosario said that all its member agencies have been directed to avoid commenting on the numbers without validation from the NDRRMC.
As of 3 p.m., Del Rosario said the death toll from Yolanda rose to 3,621 up from 2,360 while the injured was at 12, 165 and missing at 1,140.
Del Rosario was reacting to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) which said that the confirmed deaths were at 4,460 while 11.8 million were displaced.
Del Rosario said that during the initial assessment on the damage wrought by Yolanda, the national government agencies relied on data from the e local government units of the affected areas.
“But now we learned our lessons, the data from local chief executives will be revalidated that’s why our figures are slow to update. For two days, there was a stalemate in our counts,” he said.
Del Rosario added that if in case the death toll rose anew, “maybe it will be very slight.”
“I don’t like to be misquoted but I just hope na the casualties will not increase further,” he said.
‘Time is of the essence’
As one of the strongest typhoons in history pummeled Central Visayas, the areas under Yolanda’s path were turned into wasteland. The delivery of relief goods and humanitarian assistance encountered delays due to limited transportation and budget.
Del Rosario said they discussed with the Commission on Audit the process of procuring additional funds to support “emergency purchases during emergency situations.”
“We need additional funds. We have yet to talk to the policy board on this aspect to inform us how can we use immediately the government’s resources because time is of the essence,” he said.
He added that they would need budget augmentation to fund supplies, food, transportation of the military and police who were embedded in the areas devastated by the storm.
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