Aquino alarmed by storm’s toll in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino, expressing alarm at the rising death toll in Mindanao in the wake of Tropical Storm Sendong (international codename: Washi), on Saturday called for a review of the government’s crisis manual on natural disasters.

He also sought a longer-term response to “correct” all disaster risks from mining and other activities that had led to the deforestation of storm-hit areas, particularly riverside settlements in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities.

But the first mitigation, he said, should focus on the relocation of residents in all areas identified to be at risk from severe weather disturbances like Sendong, which had killed at least 184 as of late Saturday afternoon in Mindanao alone. At least 18 people were reported killed in Negros Oriental.

Presiding over an inter-agency conference at the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council headquarters, Aquino was apprised of the developments on the unfolding tragedy in the South.

Present at the conference were Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Transportation and Communication Secretary Mar Roxas and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Jessie Dellosa.

“The number of casualties is alarming, [considering] there were warnings three days before,” said Aquino, in a short-sleeved blue shirt and denim pants.

He said Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo should coordinate with the Department of Science and Technology to lay out specific plans for mitigating disaster risks in vulnerable cities and towns.

Aquino said there was a need to identify these disaster-prone places, and “the first mitigation is the relocation of [people in] these areas.”

He also called for the review of the government’s crisis response manual, including the dissemination of warnings by the state weather bureau.

Aquino said there might be a need to conduct “mandatory meetings” between local government units and disaster officials before the arrival of expected destructive storms.

He said such meetings should be attended “not by token representatives,” as has happened in the past, but by officials who are decision-makers and who can shape disaster response efforts in their localities.

Soliman said 35 evacuation centers had been put up in different parts of Mindanao since Sendong landed.

Food packs that can provide a family three days supply of food are to be distributed to displaced persons, she added.

Soliman said her department was also preparing “Noche Buena” food packs that would include ingredients for typical Christmas Eve fare such as canned fruit “cocktail” and spaghetti.