Duterte to visit calamity areas in Bicol

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is set to visit storm-hit areas in Bicol today to provide assistance to affected communities, Malacañang said. 

The body count from Tropical Depression Usman due to landslides and widespread flooding in Bicol, the Visayas and Southern Tagalog has reached 122, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo yesterday said Duterte would meet with officials of the affected provinces to determine how they could provide for the needs of the victims of Usman.

“We will check on the affected areas to determine what needs to be done,” Panelo told reporters. “The President was saddened by the calamity. We did everything we could to be prepared. But there are things you cannot control.”

Duterte was scheduled to conduct an aerial inspection before attending a situation briefing in Pili, Camarines Sur.

Asked whether Duterte was satisfied with the disaster agencies’ preparations and response to Usman, Panelo said, “It seems. But as I said, there were certain matters that we could not respond to immediately. I think the LGUs (local government units) have an explanation.”

Panelo cited the power outages in some areas, which prevented people from monitoring weather reports. 

“We should learn from whatever lessons we have seen,” he said. 

Death toll climbs

The number of deaths from Usman has reached 122,  according to the NDRRMC.

A majority of the fatalities came from Bicol, particularly in the flood-stricken provinces of Camarines Sur with 57 deaths; Albay, 18; Camarines Norte, 15; Sorsogon, eight and Masbate with seven.

The NDRRMC recorded 13 deaths from Eastern Visayas.

Four persons drowned in Oriental Mindoro and Laguna.

As of yesterday, 28 persons remained missing while 60 others were injured in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), Bicol and Eastern Visayas.

Director Edgar Posadas, spokesman for the NDRRMC, said intermittent rains spawned by Usman caused floods and landslides that affected 75,326 families or 308,451 individuals from 624 villages in Eastern Visayas, Bicol region, Western Visayas, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) and Mimaropa.

Disaster agencies have provided P9.2 million worth of assistance to the affected families.

Bodies, survivors found

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said 11 more bodies were recovered during search and rescue operations in Bicol yesterday.

PCG spokesman Capt. Armand Balilo said they resumed the retrieval operations along with rescue teams from other government agencies.  

Balilo said the bodies were found in Sagñay and Buhi, Camarines Sur.

He said 139 survivors were rescued in the town of Nabua since Tuesday.

Liezl Macatangay, spokesperson for Camarines Sur provincial disaster risk reduction management council, told The STAR they could not identify the retrieved bodies as they were bloated and in the late stage of decomposition.

The destruction left by Usman to infrastructure has reached P1 billion, with the amount expected to increase once the complete damage assessment report comes in. – With Cet Dematera, Evelyn Macairan, Rhodina Villanueva, Louise Maureen Simeon, Ramon Efren Lazaro, Janvic Mateo, Cecille Suerte Felipe