Robredo seeks emergency meeting for Batanes rebuilding

Vice President Leni Robredo visits Batanes on Sept. 19, 2016, to assess the damage left by Typhoon Ferdie. (Photos from the LENI ROBREDO MEDIA BUREAU)

MANILA — Vice President Leni Robredo called on Monday, for an emergency meeting with key shelter agencies to discuss how to help Batanes rebuild after the island province was ravaged by Typhoon “Ferdie.”
“I hope the procedure will not be as circuitous as before,” Robredo, who chairs the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), said in a press briefing in Makati City after her visit in Batanes.

Robredo said it would be easier to help Batanes since residents owned the houses damaged by the typhoon, while those who lost homes in Samar and Leyte after supertyphoon Yolanda hit in 2013, did not.

Housing programs for Yolanda survivors were bogged down by land acquisition, Robredo said.

Robredo said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) recorded Yolanda-like wind gust in Itbayat at 298 kilometers per hour.

A total of 2,455 houses were damaged in Batanes. Cell phone signal has been restored as of Sunday afternoon.

Batanes officials have requested Navy ships to bring supplies and construction materials, Robredo said.  SFM

Batanes is now in need of an immediate rehabilitation and reconstruction plan after Typhoon Ferdie destroyed houses and buildings. (Photo from the LENI ROBREDO MEDIA BUREAU)