Basyang leaves 6 dead, 5,000 displaced

MANILA, Philippines - The death toll from Tropical Storm Basyang has doubled to six while more than 5,000 persons were displaced and are still staying in evacuation centers.

Three new fatalities were recorded in Cebu, according to a report released by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) yesterday.

The latest victims include Allan Cris Lisondra Degino, 14, of Samboan town who was buried in a landslide, while 65-year-old Anthony Garcia Collarte drowned in Bantayan.

Vicente Paras Jayme, 5, of Compostela town, died of electrocution.

Other fatalities reported previously by NDRRMC were Cebu residents Jose Haji Aque Babatid, 22, who died of electrocution and Danny Tundag, 24, who drowned; and Dionesio Paler, 66, also drowned in Southern Leyte.

Five persons were reported missing after a motorboat sank off Camotes Island.

The five missing remain unidentified but NDRRMC said one of them was a 25-year-old Korean national.

NDRRMC said one-year-old Janice Bas Deiparine of Talisay City was injured after a fence collapsed on her.

A total of 42,987 persons or 9,328 families were affected in 181 barangays in Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Caraga regions.

Of the affected population, 5,646 persons or 1,130 families are still inside 32 evacuation centers.

NDRRMC said all ports have resumed operations as the weather condition improves.

Meanwhile, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is pursuing their White Space initiative that seeks to tap unused television frequencies as emergency communication channels that could be used in times of disasters.

Under their Information and Communications Technology Office, the DOST has already set up 20 barangays in Bohol with pilot White Space communications systems that could be used by the communities.

The White Space initiative is an attempt to resolve connectivity issues in remote areas in the country as well as provide data connectivity for essential public services by tapping unused TV frequencies.

The DOST-ICTO effort to pilot the program in Bohol is headed by Bettina Quiamzon.

The government and software giant Microsoft have teamed up to advance the adoption of TV White Space Technologies (TVWS) in the country.

TVWS is seen as a low-cost solution connectivity for communities or can complement existing Internet services provided by telecommunication companies.

The Philippines is only the fourth country in the world to have a government-initiated program for TVWS, following Singapore, South Africa and Kenya.

The DOST ICTO launched its TVWS initiative in 2012 to find ways of maximizing unutilized TV frequencies for data communications, such as those needed for government services like e-learning, telehealth and telemedicine, environmental sensors such as those used by the DOST’s NOAH project, as well as provide basic Internet access for areas outside commercial telco coverage. – With Rainier Allan Ronda