Aquino declares state of national calamity

PNP personnel from the Regional Special Training Unit based in Camp Efigenio Navarro lift sacks filled with relief packs at the Provincial Capitol Complex, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro for distribution to residents in various towns in Oriental Mindoro hit by Typhoon Nona. LYN RILLON

President Benigno Aquino III on Friday declared a state of national calamity as the death toll from Typhoon “Nona” (international name: Melor) reached 23 and damage to agriculture and infrastructure hit almost P1 billion.

Mr. Aquino signed Proclamation No. 1186, declaring a state of national calamity on the recommendation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

READ: Aquino declares state of calamity in the wake of ‘Nona’

The declaration would “hasten the rescue, recovery, relief and rehabilitation efforts of the government and the private sector,” as well as “control the prices of basic goods and commodities” in the typhoon-ravaged areas.

It would also give the government ample latitude in using funds for the rescue, relief and rehabilitation in the affected areas.

President Aquino directed all government agencies to attend to the needs of the typhoon victims.

He also ordered the military and the police “to undertake necessary measures to ensure peace and order in the affected areas.”

23 dead

The NDRRMC said the death toll from Nona climbed to 23 last night, with the latest deaths reported in the province of Oriental Mindoro.

Confirmed dead in the province were Maricel Manalo, 55; Teodoro Casapao, 62; Rengeline Salazar, 52; Maria Paradejas, 49; Rufino Galang, 77, and Guillermo de Leon, 70.

The death toll included 1Lt. Michelle Mae Delariarte, 24, who was killed in a landslide in Infanta, Quezon, after shopping for raffle prizes and gifts for a Christmas party on Wednesday.

The two others were Marie Abuda, 60, and Charlie, 6, who drowned in General Nakar town.

It was unclear on Friday if the count included three deaths reported earlier in Aurora and Nueva Ecija.

The three drowned in floods in the two provinces. They were Nelly Cogonon, 54, of Dipaculao, Aurora; Abraham Lazo, 24, of Cabanatuan City, and Situ Morales, 55, of Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.

The number of injured people has risen to 20, with the latest victim, 1Lt. Sarah Jane Bagasol, 24, injured in the same incident that killed Delariarte.

Three missing

NDRRMC chief Alexander Pama said three people remain missing—two who were swept away by floodwaters in Romblon and Oriental Mindoro, and another who was from Cavite province.

As of yesterday, the NDRRMC had recorded P935,192,943.51 in damage, almost 90 percent of which was in agriculture, mostly in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol and Eastern Visayas.

Damage to infrastructure was placed at P94,764,324.

The agency said the typhoon destroyed 39,122 houses and damaged 161,196 others in the four regions.

It said Nona also damaged 35 hospitals, 28 of which were located in Eastern Visayas and seven in Bicol.

Three hospitals in Northern Samar, which was hit the hardest, were destroyed, the NDRRMC said.

Power has been restored in the typhoon-hit regions, except for two cities and 35 towns.

Communication has been fully restored in Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Albay, Batangas, Camarines Norte, Marinduque and Quezon.

But difficulty in signal availability is still being experienced in other areas, the NDRRMC said.

The NDRRMC said 26 roads and four bridges remained impassable in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Two days after Nona blew out of the Philippines, 67 barangays in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Aurora and other parts of Central Luzon remained submerged in floodwaters.

Thousands of residents in 300 low-lying areas in Calumpit, Bulacan province, were evacuated to the town’s sports complex on Friday when floodwaters rose to 1.5 meters, the provincial disaster office said.

Both Hagonoy and Calumpit are catchment areas for the Pampanga River Basin.

Felicisima Mungcal, Bulacan provincial disaster office chief, said it was unclear whether the rise in floodwaters could be blamed on the release of water from Angat, Ipo and Bustos dams, which filled to spilling level during the typhoon.

Pama said the dams had stopped releasing water after reaching their normal levels.

State of calamity

Oriental Mindoro, Sorsogon, Albay and Northern Samar provinces have declared a state of calamity to be able to use local calamity funds for relief and recovery operations, Pama said.

As of Friday, 35,416 families, or 158,895 people, remained in 469 evacuation centers, while 41,380 families, or 151,293 people, outside evacuation centers were being aided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The agency has also released P44,955,026 in relief assistance to affected residents in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol and Eastern Visayas. With reports from Marjorie T. Sia, trainee, in Manila; Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Ron Lopez and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon; and Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon

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