Gov’t distributes P37M worth of aid to ‘Crising’ victims
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has distributed over P37 million in relief and assistance to families affected by Severe Tropical Storm “Crising” (international name: Wipha) and the southwest monsoon as the number of victims rose to more than 500,000 over the weekend.
In its 6 a.m. situational report on Sunday, the DSWD said 523,686 individuals or 151,012 families in 1,134 barangays across the country have been affected by the heavy rains and floods.
The agency noted that of this figure, 33,608 individuals or 9,261 families were in evacuation centers (ECs) while 99,834 individuals, or 22,511 families, were receiving assistance outside ECs.
This latest weather disturbance to hit the country has also left three people dead in Negros Occidental.
Continuous rains
DSWD Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Irene Dumlao said the aid the government distributed consists of 53,383 family food packs, ready-to-eat food and nonfood items that were already delivered to the affected families.
“If you remember, we distributed around P4 million worth of assistance [on Saturday]. This morning, it reached P37 million because of the teamwork of our disaster response personnel from place to place to provide immediate aid to our affected constituents,” Dumlao said.
She added that the agency will continue to coordinate with local government units (LGUs) to extend immediate aid and relief.
Crising left the Philippine area of responsibility on Saturday afternoon but the southwest monsoon is expected to continue bringing rain to most parts of the country until early next week.
On Sunday, floods continued to affect several towns in Negros Occidental and Occidental Mindoro.
Fatalities
The storm left three people dead in Negros Occidental where 31,455 residents were affected.
The fatalities were identified as fisherman Glen Francisco Trejero, 30, of Barangay Old Sagay, Sagay City, who went missing at sea on Thursday and whose body was found on Sunday; and a 12-year-old boy, who died after he suffered an epileptic episode and was swept away by strong currents while crossing an overflow in Sitio Mangahoykahoy, Barangay Santol, Binalbagan, on Saturday.
The third fatality, Mejhon Cordero, 44, of Barangay Benedicto in Himamaylan City, was also found floating in Pangiplan River in Barangay Payao of Binalbagan town at about noon on Sunday. He fell into the overflowing river in Barangay Biao, also in Binalbagan, on Friday and had gone missing.
The Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) reported that floods hit 139 barangays in 18 cities and towns, and destroyed 14 houses and damaged 141 others.
Crops damage
In Occidental Mindoro, the PDRRMO reported that 1,187 individuals were affected. It added that 2,336 farmers and fisherfolk in four towns were also impacted by Crising.
It placed the initial damage to infrastructure at P650,000 while damage to rice farms was at P40,688,918; P432,788 to corn, and P961,197 to high-value crops. The fishery sector lost P401,600, it added.
PDRRMO head Mario Mulingbayan, in phone interview, said there were areas where flooding had subsided but because the skies were still cloudy, they were closely monitoring the waters in major river systems and were anticipating that more floods could still occur.
“We have already prepositioned food and nonfood items to our evacuation centers and we are closely monitoring our rivers. All personnel of all the DRRMO in all towns are on high alert for any development in this weather condition,” Mulingbayan said.
The Philippine Army, meanwhile, has sent disaster rescue and response units to facilitate evacuations and clear debris from affected areas. —WITH REPORTS FROM FAITH ARGOSINO, CARLA P. GOMEZ, IRE JOE V.C. LAURENTE AND PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY
