MANILA -- The government has provided a total of P139 million worth of food and non-food relief goods to the survivors of Typhoon Odette as of January 17, an official of the country’s civil defense agency reported on Monday.
In his report to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Assistant Secretary Hernando Caraig Jr. said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) logistics cluster led by OCD also delivered around 6.49 million kilograms of various relief items.
Aside from relief goods, Caraig said the OCD has provided the survivors with safe drinking water.
“In terms of water, Mr. President, OCD provided 1.74 liters or 2.1 million water bottles and a donation from Lucio Tan Group and Chinese Chambers of Commerce of 1.9 million liters of water,” he said, adding the OCD still has a reserve of 2.175 million liters to be distributed to the affected regional areas.
The remaining 2.1 million liters or equivalent to 4,350,000 bottles will be distributed in Mimaropa, Eastern and Central Visayas and Caraga, the regions needing clean drinking water.
Caraig said the OCD also facilitated door-to-door water deliveries that totaled 932 liters, which were directly delivered to 2,830 barangays.
He added that Central Visayas and Mimaropa were complemented with water filtration system to address water-related diseases, while Bohol received nine water filtration systems from various donors.
The OCD is also negotiating with a water bottling company for the procurement of additional bottled water, which will be provided to the affected regions.
Northern Mindanao, the OCD official said, has a pending delivery of 193 liters for Central Visayas and 213 liters for Caraga. Soccsksargen, on the other hand, has delivered 113 liters to Caraga, while Zamboanga Peninsula sent 935 liters.
President Duterte told the OCD official to fast track the delivery of clean drinking water to disaster areas, underscoring the importance of the commodity in the regions affected by natural calamities.
“I seem to be repeating it always, but para ma-remind lang ang lahat — sunog, na-experience ko, I got this when I was mayor. ‘Pag magsama ako ‘yung sa first responders, ang unang hiningi ng tao tubig talaga, lalo na kung under stress, tubig ang hinahanap,” he said.
In terms of the agency’s shelter assistance, Caraig reported that it was agreed during the January 13 emergency meeting that the shelter cluster under the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) will submit proposal on shelter funding assistance for families based on damaged houses.
The National Housing Authority (NHA) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will handle the coverage of shelter assistance.
Likewise, the Philippine Coconut Authority, in support to OCD’s shelter initiative, reported the deployment of chainsaws for use in shelter construction and other operations including the clearing of fallen trees.
Typhoon Odette has affected 2.3 million families or 8.1 million individuals. It also left 406 deaths, 1,265 injuries, and 65 missing persons.
The weather disturbance also damaged 1.3 million houses with an estimated value of P64 million. The damage to infrastructure and agriculture was at P18 billion and P11.7 billion, respectively. (PND)
