Aquino urges residents in danger zones in Aurora to evacuate

President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday urged the residents living in danger zones in Aurora to evacuate following the onslaught of Typhoon “Lando” (international name: Koppu) in the province.

During his inspection in the typhoon-ravaged town of Casiguran, Aquino said residents should not put their safety at risk by staying in danger zones.

“May mga lugar na talagang tiyak na mukhang delikado basta may dumating na bagyo (There are areas prone to devastation when there are typhoons),” Aquino said before an audience of local and national officials.

“Sulit bang manatili doon na garantisadong tatamaan ka ng malakas kada bagyong darating? Baka maganda na pag-isipan, ilipat sa mas maayos na lugar (Is it worth staying in places that will surely be heavily hit? Maybe it is time to relocate to a safer place).”

The President underscored the need for cooperation during rehabilitation.

“Ang punto lang ho nito, ‘yung meron tayong natural na pangyayaring parati tayong dadatnan, puwede tayong matuto, puwede tayong magpaganda ng ating paghahanda at mabawasan ‘yung problemang dadaanan (The point here is that, this phenomenon is natural to us. We can learn from this; we can prepare better and mitigate the problem),” Aquino said.

“So ituloy lang ho natin—ang pakiusap ko—ituloy lang ho natin ’yung pagtutulungan, pakikisama sa isa’t isa, mapapabilis natin ’yung prosesong lahat ito (So let’s continue—I ask you—let’s continue helping and being in solidarity with each other to speed up the process).”

Aside from inspecting the damage brought by Lando, the President also distributed relief goods.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said at least 41 people died, 78 were hurt, and five went missing when Lando barreled toward north and central Luzon.

The typhoon has affected about 268,877 families or more than 1.2 million persons in seven regions, according to the NDRRMC.