Yolanda toll rises to 6,069

MANILA, Philippines - The death toll from Super Typhoon Yolanda now stands at 6,069 with 1,779 still missing and 27,468 others injured, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported yesterday.

NDRRMC executive director Eduardo del Rosario reported that most of the missing are Leyte residents.

The NDRRMC is now preparing financial assistance to the survivors.

As part of its mandate, the NDRRMC is obliged to give financial assistance of P10,000 to the surviving families of victims who perished in any major calamity, provided the death has been confirmed, validated and endorsed by the local government units (LGUs).

In the case of those who perished in Leyte, the NDRRMC is expected to withhold the release of financial benefits for the processed 2,454 bodies as they are all unidentified.

There were reports that whole families were killed so there are no claimants.

The NDRRMC operations center said the missing persons include 1,671 in Leyte; 38 in Samar; 24 in Palawan; 20 in Eastern Samar; 15 in Antique; five in Cebu; four in Iloilo and one each in Guimaras and Capiz.

Millions were badly affected or displaced.

Packing winds of up to 330 kilometer per hour, Yolanda destroyed 550,929 houses and damaged 585,404 others.

The cost of damage due to Yolanda was estimated at P35,547,986,330.67 with P18,226,835,334.29 worth of damaged infrastructure and P17,321,150,996.38 in agricultural products.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH), local government units and non-government organizations have distributed P1,163,480,956.23 worth of relief assistance to the affected families.

Pagcor donates to typhoon victims

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) yesterday donated P6.5 million to the DSWD to augment the relief operations for victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

PAGCOR chief executive officer Cristino Naguiat handed the check to Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman.

“The donation was allocated for (PAGCOR’s) Christmas celebration but the employees opted not to celebrate; instead, they chose to give the money to the department for the benefit of the typhoon victims,” a statement from DSWD said.

The donation came on the heels of the exposé of former senator Ping Lacson that “unscrupulous lower ranking officials in the bureaucracy” attempted to get kickbacks from the donations.

President Aquino had appointed Lacson to head the rehabilitation efforts in typhoon-ravaged areas.

 The United Arab Emirates has started sending humanitarian aid to the country for provinces devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas last month.

The UAE Ministry of International Cooperation and Development said in a statement that 245 tons of high-energy food from the United Nations warehouses at the International Humanitarian City in Dubai have been sent to the Philippines through the World Food Program, according to a report of The Gulf Times over the weekend.

The ministry also revealed that representatives of the UAE Red Crescent Authority and Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment visited the country to coordinate with government officials regarding the distribution of relief goods.

The UAE had pledged $10 million in aid to the Philippines days after the super typhoon hit Central Visayas last Nov. 8.

Over 6,000 people were killed during the storm, reported to be the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall.

Authorities estimated that over 13 million people were affected by the super typhoon, with 2.5 million in need of food assistance.

Soliman said the government would provide P30,000 worth of construction materials as rebuilding assistance for residents whose houses were destroyed, and P10,000 for those with partially damaged houses. – With Edu Punay, Aie Balagtas See, Rainier Allan Ronda