Aquino vows to ensure ‘everybody is protected’ during ‘Lando’

Residents wade through raging floodwaters brought about by Typhoon Koppu at Zaragosa township, Nueva Ecija province, north of Manila, Philippines Monday, Oct. 19, 2015. Slow-moving Typhoon Koppu blew ashore with fierce wind in the northeastern Philippines early Sunday, toppling trees and knocking out power and communications and forcing the evacuation of thousands of villagers.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Amid the onslaught brought on by Typhoon “Lando” (international name: Koppu), President Benigno Aquino III promised to make sure that “everybody is protected” and hoped that the number of casualties will not climb.

“The government, I think, has responded to all… But again we will not take any chance and we will try to ensure that we are on the side of being conservative…” Aquino said at a distribution of relief goods to victims of “Lando” at the Nueva Ecija National High School in Cabanatuan City on Monday.

Several towns in Nueva Ecija have been placed under state of calamity after floods inundated the streets there.

READ: State of calamity up in several towns, cities in Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Isabela

Aquino also indicated the challenges with dealing with “Lando” and its effects on northern Luzon.

“Basically, the challenge here is that you have a lingering typhoon as opposed to just crossing our land mass in a matter of a few hours. The expectation for the effects of this particular typhoon are about three days long,” he said.

“It has not exited the land mass at this point in time. It has veered northeast so it really will affect a lot of these areas in Region 1 and the Cordillera area, and that’s what we are trying to gear up for. And of course, we want to prevent any spread of a disease, leptospirosis is considered a threat especially the way through the floodwaters,” the President added.

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