MANDALUYONG CITY -- The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) distributed 600,000 liters of clean and potable water through its water tankers and bladders in Severe Tropical Storm (STS) Paeng-stricken Cotabato City and Maguindanao. More than 11,000 households in Cotabato City and in the municipalities of Upi, Kabuntalan, and Datu Odin Sinsuat benefited from this humanitarian aid.

The PRC Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Team also reached over 4,000 persons with lecture-demonstrations on hygiene and sanitation in Cotabato City and Maguindanao, which are among the places that experienced massive flooding and a deadly landslide as a result of Paeng (international name: Nalgae), which made landfall in the Philippines on 29 October 2022.

Water sources are among the lifelines damaged after a storm; some water sources might be contaminated, and sanitation might also be compromised. According to the World Health Organization, contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio.

As of date, PRC water tankers have distributed 1,024,497 liters of water to Paeng-affected communities in Laguna, Zamboanga City, Cotabato City, and Maguindanao. The premiere humanitarian organization has reached at least 38 cities and provinces across the country with emergency medical services, water search and rescue, hot meals, food items, clearing and flushing or debris, health promotion, hygiene kits, sleeping kits, kitchen sets, cash assistance, and water, among other humanitarian aid. (Philippine Red Cross)