CAR placed under state of calamity
DUTERTE INCLUDES THREE REGIONS
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte declared the entire Cordillera under a state of calamity in a bid to help make the region resilient.
Proclamation No. 593 signed September 25 aims to hasten relief and rehabilitation efforts in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and Central Luzon, badly hit by Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut) as recommended by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
Cordillera was among hardest hit incurring P4.108 billion in agricultural damages as reported by the Department of Agriculture with 168,221 affected farmers in the provinces of Ifugao,
Kalinga and Mt. Province damaging rice, corn, high value crops, livestock and poultry including infrastructure projects.
The declaration will provide price control measures seen to mitigate economic impact on the affected areas as well as help local government units to administer recovery and rehabilitation and seamless delivery of basic needs and services.
All line agencies and local government units are tasked to implement and execute rescue, relief, rehabilitation and recovery measures as they see needed in their areas of jurisdiction.
Law enforcement agencies with the backing of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are now directed to undertake all necessary measures to ensure peace and order in all affected areas.
Previously, a state of calamity has been declared in the provinces of Kalinga, Mt. Province, Apayao and municipalities of Mayoyao and Aguinaldo in Ifugao to fast track repair of the destroyed buildings, crops, houses, schools and infrastructures.
Before typhoon Ompong hit the region, Benguet and Abra have already been declared under state of calamity brought by the continuous southwest monsoon or Habagat.
The declaration now hastens efforts of areas not in a calamity state to strengthen pre disaster preparation and work to make their cities and municipalities stronger to fend impending calamities.
Meanwhile Regional Development and Peace and Order Council chairman and Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan welcomed the declaration for the region to access calamity funds for rehabilitation.
“The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council will validate if we are compliant with the criteria needed before declaring our place under a state of calamity. It is unfortunate that we incurred lots of damages here in Baguio City and the region. In the city, we listed 15 casualties, 13 bodies retrieved with two still being retrieved at the Mary Hurst, Lucnab Barangay incident,” Domogan said.
According to the latest report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), a total of 264,304 families or 1,096,799 persons from 3,780 barangays particularly in the said four regions were affected by Ompong.
The typhoon also left at least 90 people dead, including 72 due to landslides in Itogon, Benguet.