BUTUAN CITY -- The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) leads the fast, safe and efficient delivery of relief assistance to areas hardly-hit by typhoon Odette, particularly the provinces of Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Islands.

According to Cpt. Dennis Pandeagua, district commander of North Eastern Mindanao Coast Guard, President Rodrigo Duterte directed the Coast Guard along with other government agencies to provide immediate assistance to the affected residents. 

“President Rodrigo Duterte personally visited Surigao City and also assessed the onslaught brought about by typhoon Odette in the provinces of Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Islands. He then directed the Coast Guard to facilitate and fast-track the delivery of the relief goods to the affected residents in the two islands. Also, he ordered that different government agencies converge their efforts to immediately help and uplift the condition/situation of the affected locals,” said Pandeagua.

The PCG has also established ‘Task Force Kalinga’ to closely monitor and provide aid to all its districts affected by typhoon Odette. Sectors from other regions also extended help to the Coast Guard by providing vessels for the transportation of relief goods for coastal areas and the islands. 

Per Coast Guard, a total of 832 tons of food and non-food items were already delivered to Siargao Island and Dinagat Islands.

The PCG is also conducting a feeding program especially for children, and offers free charging of cellphones and other gadgets in the affected areas.

Pandeagua bared that they are also looking into rehabilitating their office in Surigao City as it was also affected by the typhoon. Necessary aid was also provided to their affected personnel. 

The Coast Guard official encouraged those who want to donate relief goods and construction materials to coordinate with the PCG to facilitate the delivery of the goods to affected residents.

“To those individuals, organizations and government agencies that wanted our help in the transportation of your donations and relief assistance may just reach out to our Task Force Kalinga as we also have a warehouse in our PCG gym and from there we could facilitate the acceptance of your donations so we could then deliver it to the affected residents,” added Pandeagua. (JPG/PIA-Caraga)