NOVELETA, Cavite (PIA) – President Ferdinand ‘BongBong’ Romualdez Marcos, Jr., along with national and local officials spearheaded relief distributions in the Municipality of Noveleta this October 31 and personally visited the evacuation center in Barangay San Jose II to discuss the situation town's with local officials.

Municipal Mayor Dino Reyes-Chua, Provincial Governor Jonvic Remulla, 1st District of Cavite Representative Jolo Remulla, Senator Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla and wife Congresswoman Lani Mercado-Revilla, and LGU chiefs of the first district joined in welcoming the president.

Governor Jonvic Remulla briefed the president that around 18,000 families have been evacuated in the province during the onslaught of the typhoon, and at least P 50M worth of relief goods are being distributed to these victims. But at this stage, most of the evacuees have already returned to their respective houses.

During the visit, President Bong Bong Marcos (PBBM) led the distribution of goods to the remaining evacuees in the evacuation center together with Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo.  

During a press briefing that ensued after the distribution activity, President Marcos Jr. states, “We are at the stage of rebuilding, we have to help the victims of the typhoon by giving them building materials to rebuild their houses.”

He continued, “After aerial inspection, most of the damage is infrastructural damage, such as flood control dikes. What we need is a long-term solution to address these problems brought by natural calamities.”

PBBM shared a possibility for a flood-control project with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) wherein the widening of rivers would allow for more water containment to prevent water overflow.

According to the president, it is not necessary to declare a one-year national state of calamity since the damage is highly localized, and focusing on these areas would serve the people better.

“It is better to stay with the calamity status that we are in now,” President Marcos Jr. said.

Meanwhile, current estimates of damage in agriculture are at P 260M which the president said would still be subject to change in the coming days since the officials from the Department of Agriculture are continuously collating reports from different affected areas in the country. (RBF/PIA-Cavite)