CAR families evacuate
30,000 FOOD PACKS IN PLACE
SOME 161 families from three provinces in the Cordillera region have heeded the call to undergo evacuation prior to the onslaught of Tropical Storm Ompong over the Central and Northern Luzon area.
Department of the Interior and Local Government Regional Director Marlo Iringan said the161 families is composed of 663 individuals from Abra, Kalinga and Mountain Province.
“This are the initial number of families and individuals who have heeded the call of government for them to undergo preemptive
evacuation and we are still in the process of convincing other families located in landslide and flood prone areas to do the same to prevent casualties during the passing of Ompong,” Iringan explained.
Department of Social Welfare and Development regional director Janet Armas said aside from the initial number of families who underwent voluntary preemptive evacuation, DSWD - CAR is now processing additional families in Benguet which have shown the intention to do the same.
“There are families in Benguet Province that have given their intention to undergo preemptive evacuation and we are now processing them. We are now guarding the municipality of Tuba and the mayor have assured us the affected families at Camp 6 will be evacuated, some families at Kiangan village have also evacuated plus those in Ampucao who are now at the Ucab Elementary school,” Armas explained.
DSWD - CAR have prepositioned 30,000 family food packs and non-food items in specific areas in the region for easy deployment or at P398 per pack, good for two days for a family of five, while a fund of P3 million is in standby.
Division chiefs of the DSWD have been instructed to proceed to the provinces to do the necessary decision making once communication lines fail aside from the purchasing of food and non-food items and repacking are ongoing.
“The regional directors of DSWD 1 and 2 have agreed to serve the nearest Cordillera provinces to their region for immediate response while our communication facilities consisting of a GX system aside from cellular phones is available for the immediate relay of vital information to the regional department,” Armas added.
The Philippine Red Cross Office in Baguio City through administrator Annie Tamayo on the other hand have assured the sufficient supply of blood once needed in any operation.
Benguet Electric Cooperative have assured the implementation of its emergency reactivation plan through its distribution dispatch team and its administrative support division once the opportunity to return power would be given.
Meanwhile, Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar have assured the efficient clearing operations of the road networks in the Cordillera during the expected onslaught of typhoon Ompong in the region.
In his visit to the DPWH Cordillera Regional Office, Villar expressed his awareness on how important the road networks which might be affected by the typhoons saying immediate be clearing must be done for the relief and evacuation operations to be done by government.
“We have identified 44 locations under the 12 District Engineering Offices in the region wherein we have a total of 63 heavy equipments of the government with 208 heavy 148 other equipments coming from the private companies prepositioned in Cordillera with a total manpower of 1,010 scattered to do the clearing operations,” Villar explained.
The Secretary informed the regional office of the availability of a quick response fund which will be used for the repair and rehabilitation of damaged road networks brought about by the previous rains and typhoons.
“Our challenge is for the immediate clearing of the affected road networks in the region for the continuity of the delivery of services specially during these times. And we have talked with the various contractors to assist us in the clearing operations to quickly resolve the effects of the typhoon,” Villar added.
The Secretary was in the city to personally oversee the preparations being done by the DPWH Car on the effects of the impending typhoon.