MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday ordered concerned government agencies to complete the assessment of public infrastructures that were damaged by the shear line and low pressure area in the Davao region.
President Marcos presided over the a situation briefing in Davao City, where he said the assessment will be the basis for the funding of the repairs and rehabilitation efforts later.
“All of the other damages will still have to assessed and then we will then have to make a plan, get it funded,” he said.
Davao de Oro Gov. Dorothy Montejo Gonzaga, for her part, presented a report that there is already an initial grand total of more than PhP3.6 billion worth of damages for local and national roads, bridges and flood control infrastructure in the province.
Gonzaga also presented the required budget for the repair and rehabilitation of these infrastructures which costs PhP8.2 billion—PhP2.181 billion for roads, PhP2.138 billion for bridges, and PhP3.889 billion for revetment.
“These figures we got from our friends from the DPWH kasi pinapa-submit po namin sila ng [assessment ng damage] at saka costing if and when mare-repair and rehabilitated ‘yung roads, bridges, and revetments namin,” Gonzaga said.
Assessment of damages is still ongoing.
As for the immediate response to affected families, President Marcos directed the local governments and national government agencies to provide shelter and support.
“We’re really still at that point that we still—that as much as we can do for now is to provide shelter and support for those who have been displaced,” he said.
Of the 237 barangays in the province, 138 were affected by the shear line while 151 were affected by the trough of a low pressure area.
The province of Davao de Oro was among that sustained the most damage by the effects of the rains caused by the shear line weather pattern over the region. The floods affected some 37,692 families in the province with 85 houses totally and partially damaged while the losses and damage in the agriculture sector totaled PhP122.50 million, affecting 6,285 farmers.
In the same report, the province of Davao del Norte had the highest rate in terms of number of families affected at 90,202 followed by Davao Oriental with 72,412 families. Davao City had 2,435 families affected; Davao Occidental with 1,495 and Davao del Sur with 181.
A total of 204, 417 families or 923,482 persons were affected in the region where authorities reported 78 rain-induced landslides and 158 flooded areas due to the rains caused by the shear line.
A total of 1,549 houses were damaged in the region, 308 of which were totally damaged and 1,241 partially damaged.
The province of Davao Oriental has the most number of houses destroyed or partially damaged at 1,457, followed by Davao de Oro at 85; Davao del Norte at five and the province of Davao Occidental and Davao City at one each.
On the other hand, the trough of the low pressure area brought light to heavy rains in Davao region from January 29 to February 2 resulted in massive flooding and landslide incidents.
Authorities reported a total 232,683 families or 768,297 persons were affected in the region of which the province of Davao del Norte registered the highest number of affected families at 120,894, followed by Davao Oriental at 63,379 and Davao de Oro with 43,428 families.
Davao City had 4,083 while the province of Davao Occidental had 899 families affected by the LPA. (PND)