Ports, shipping firms, airlines help Yolanda victims

MANILA, Philippines - Port operators, shipping companies and airlines are stepping up efforts to help victims in provinces ravaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda. 

Dr. Michael Romero, president of Manila North Harbor, Port Inc., said a logistics summit would be held today to lay down a master plan to facilitate the shipment of relief goods to affected areas. 

“I called for a logistic summit to help plan the logistic operations of the relief aids. We have made the warehouses in the North Harbor as the central staging point for relief goods going out of Manila,” Romero said in a text message.

He said that shipping companies, including Gothong, 2Go and Oceanic agreed to give free container freight to carry relief goods to provinces battered by Yolanda. 

State-run Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Philippine Red Cross, port operators, shipping companies and truckers are also expected to attend today’s summit.

PPA said port authorities in Matnog Port would continue to prioritize relief items bound for calamity-stricken areas. 

Matnog Port, located in Sorsogon and under the watch of the Port Management Office of Legazpi, is being used as a jump-off point for relief goods bound for Samar and Leyte provinces, which were hard hit by Yolanda.

PPA asked for the understanding of stranded passengers at the port, explaining that relief goods are more vital as thousands of Filipinos in Samar and Leyte have been suffering for a week now without food, shelter, clothes and medicines. 

“The instruction right now at Matnog (Port) is to prioritize relief items like food, clothing, medicine and fuel bound for Samar and Leyte provinces. I am appealing to Ro-Ro (roll on, roll off) bus operators as well as passengers to defer their plans in order not to worsen the situation,” port manager Rosenda Sumagaysay said.

Traffic at the port ballooned three-fold – a combination of Ro-Ro cargoes, relief items, regular clientele and passengers – as several ports in the region were rendered idle after the typhoon. 

Sumagaysay said the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police have already restored order after disgruntled passengers stormed the port trying to squeeze through tight security to board vessels to reach Samar and Leyte to check on their relatives.

She asked vessel operators to deploy additional vessels to offer more trips and step up relief operations. 

Since Monday, traffic has doubled and sometimes tripled at the port from the usual 200 vehicles a day to about 400 to 500 loadings a day.

As of Friday, vehicles waiting to be loaded at the port already reached about six kilometers including about 61 Ro-Ro buses loaded with 45 passengers per bus or a total of about 2,700 to 3,000 passengers. 

To have some order, government authorities have agreed to assemble all vehicles carrying relief items in Camp Ola and which will be escorted by military personnel going to Matnog Port. 

Meanwhile, budget airline Cebu Pacific agreed to waive excess baggage fees and accommodate relief goods to be brought to affected areas. 

National flag carrier Philippine Airlines, on the other hand, airlifted for free eight medical teams, one psychosocial team, medicines, medical equipment and cadaver bags to Tacloban City in support of the Department of Health’s efforts to bring aid to typhoon victims there. 

On Monday, PAL also operated a humanitarian flight from Manila to Tacloban to transport teams from the Metro Manila Development Authority and other government agencies tasked with rescue and medical missions.

Maynilad to deploy water treatment plants

For its part, Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) said it is acquiring two portable water treatment plants for deployment to hardest hit areas in Leyte in the next few days. 

Maynilad president and CEO Ricky Vargas said the first mobile water facility, which can produce 50,000 liters per day of potable water, is expected to be ready for deployment today.

“The second mobile facility has a water treatment capacity of 26,000 liters per day, and will be ready for deployment by Wednesday next week,” he added.

Costing nearly P1.4 million, the two portable water treatment plants use ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis water purification technology and can treat brackish water.

Maynilad has also sent a second batch of water donations to typhoon victims in Ormoc, Tacloban, Coron, Guiuan, Iloilo and Capiz through various government agencies and private organizations. 

Since Tuesday, Maynilad deployed additional 10,000 units of one-gallon containers, 6,000 units of one-liter containers, 5,500 units of five-gallon containers, and 4,000 units of 330 ml bottles of potable water. 

Donations from companies

Private companies also donated monies and relief goods to typhoon victims.

The Lafarge Group in the Philippines, a construction supplies firm, has committed to provide 1 million euros in relief supplies, logistical services, affordable housing services and cash donations to support relief and recovery efforts. – With Rhodina Villanueva