Southern Metro execs brace for ‘Ruby’
Makati Mayor Junjun Binay: “We are not taking any chances. We need to be ready for any eventuality.” Inquirer file photo.
MANILA, Philippines—Saying they were taking no chances, some local government units in southern Metro Manila have begun preparing for the passage of Typhoon Ruby (international name: Hagupit).
In a statement on Saturday, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay said he called members of the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council to an emergency meeting on Friday “to discuss measures that should be undertaken to ensure the safety of residents and mitigate the damage the typhoon may inflict on lives and properties.”
“We are not taking any chances. We need to be ready for any eventuality,” he said.
According to Binay, he also instructed the council members to “immediately initiate the prepositioning of all necessary vehicles and equipment of the city government at the city hall quadrangle so that they could be inventoried and easily deployed.”
Among these vehicles are 6 x 6 trucks, ambulances, fire trucks, rescue vehicles, Makati Public Safety unit response vehicles, mobile patrol cars, and buses, among others.
He said he also instructed the social welfare department to purchase additional relief goods and blankets, among others, for the evacuees.
According to the statement, the social welfare department has “already repacked relief goods and prepositioned these in four flood-prone barangays in the city.” It did not identify those places.
The statement said the police force, first responders, doctors and nurses, and other response teams were “already on heightened alert for the possible landfall (sic) of Typhoon Ruby in Metro Manila.”
“The public may call Makati C3s emergency hotline 168 for inquiries, forecasts and updates. Other PLDT numbers connected to 168 are as follows: 870-1920, 870-1923, 870-1926, 870-1929, 870-1932, 870-1935, 870-1940, and 870-1942,” the statement said.
In Pasay City, local authorities were on “high monitoring mode alert” according to Dennis Acorda, city administrator and overall coordinator of the local disaster mitigation office.
“We will automatically be on Yellow Alert once (Ruby) hits land in Eastern Samar,” Acorda said.
He said the Pasay government was “taking all necessary precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the Pasayeños.”
According to him, the Pasay Rescue Team and the Tricycle Franchise and Regulatory Office have been tasked to “continuously monitor weather changes.”
The Pasay Public Information Office will monitor announcements and advisories from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, and will answer inquiries and issue advisories to the media and the general public, he said.
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