Palace assures monitoring of typhoon ‘Bising’
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has prepositioned all response assistance and instructed all unified commands to assist RDRRMC
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Sunday assured the round-the-clock monitoring of typhoon “Bising” as it continues to threaten areas in Visayas and Mindanao.
“Our concern is the safety of everyone. We therefore ask our people to remain alert and vigilant, cooperate with authorities and continue to observe minimum public health standards for protection against Covid-19,” Roque said.
Roque added that the Office of Civil has conducted pre-disaster risk assessments at the national level and issued guidance and advisories for the early preparation of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (RDRRMC) and the local government units (LGU) since Wednesday, 14 April 2021.
The Palace official added that the Department of Social Welfare and Development has standby funds of P556.4 million in their central office and field offices and stockpiles consisting of 370,058 family food packs amounting to P188.6 million as of 17 April 2021.
“The Department of Health has assured that they have dedicated teams looking into the impact of any disaster, especially in monitoring the evacuation centers in relation to Covid-19 protocol. They have likewise prepositioned assorted medicines/Covid supplies to regional offices,” Roque said.
The President’s spokesperson also disclosed that the Armed Forces of the Philippines has prepositioned all response assistance and instructed all unified commands to assist RDRRMC in pre-emptive evacuation and other relevant operations.
He added that the Department of the Interior and Local Government also activated nine regions, reiterating the use of ‘Oplan Listo’ and LGU assistance to response operations.
Roque said that based on the report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, pre-emptive evacuation has been carried out in Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Northern and Eastern Samar.
Meantime, the Philippine Coast Guard on Sunday revealed that more than 2,000 passengers being stranded in ports of Eastern Visayas, Bicol, Central Visayas and North Eastern Mindanao regions due to light to rough sea conditions and rains brought about by the typhoon.
In its social media post, the PCG said that bad weather also left 16 vessels and 890 rolling cargoes stranded, while 48 vessels and 26 motorbancas are taking shelter.
Over at Eastern Visayas, 895 passengers, drivers and helpers, seven vessels and 400 rolling cargoes were stranded in Ormoc Port, Isabel Port, Liloan Port Terminal, San Ricardo Port, Sta Clara Port, Balwarteco Port and Dapdap Port.
In Bicol, 794 travelers, drivers and helpers, seven vessels, and 291 rolling cargoes were stranded in the region’s ports, while in Central Visayas, 23
vessels and eight rolling cargoes are stranded while 48 vessels and 26 motorbancas are taking shelter.
The PCG also reported that for ports covering North Eastern Mindanao, 365 passengers, drivers, and helpers, two vessels and 199 rolling cargoes were stranded, while Catanduanes province — which is under Signal No. 2 — is preparing all disaster risk measures against the feared onslaught of the typhoon.