Tropical Depression Usman damage placed at P1.5 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Destruction left by Tropical Depression Usman to infrastructure and crops in the Mindoro-Marinduque-Romblon-Palawan (Mimaropa) or Region 4B has been placed at P1.5 billion.

“A total of P1,304,565,000 damage to infrastructure and P166,763,600.80 to rice, corn and high value crops have been reported,” the Office of Civil Defense said yesterday.

Mimaropa, like Bicol and Eastern Visayas, was hit by Usman’s heavy rains prior to and during the New Year, triggering widespread flooding in the capital city of Calapan and in the agricultural towns of Boco, Naujan, Socorro, Pola, Pinamalayan, Bansud and Bongabong.

The areas are now under a state of calamity, with local leaders seeking more support and assistance from the national government.

Three persons died from drowning while eight others were injured in the floods that also damaged 210 houses in Mindoro.

But most of the 3,139 families or 13,080 persons displaced by the storm have returned to their homes, except for the 48 families who lost their houses to flash floods.

Disaster officials have placed the estimated damage to infrastructure at P1 billion in Bicol or Region 5, excluding the damaged crops.

Relief efforts

For his part, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rolando Bautista flew back to Bicol yesterday to check on the department’s ongoing relief efforts in Camarines Sur.

Bautista met with DSWD Field Office (FO) 5 regional director Arnel Garcia to discuss the status of the affected families, especially those still taking refuge in various evacuation centers.

There were still 12,828 families or 56,417 persons in 112 evacuation centers in Region 5 as of noon yesterday.

At least 22,202 families or 105,820 individuals are staying with their relatives and friends and continue to receive relief assistance.

The DSWD-FO 5 has provided a total of P12,529,403.50 in assistance to those affected by Usman.

In Eastern Visayas, 175 families or 700 persons remained in four evacuation centers: three in the town of Lope de Vega and one in Catarman, both in Northern Samar.

Creation of dep’t

Meanwhile, Congress must immediately approve proposals to create the Department of Disaster Resilience and Emergency Management (DDREM) as “the people’s safety needs cannot wait,” Sen. Grace Poe said yesterday.

Poe pushed for the passage of Senate Bill 1735, which she filed in March 2018, seeking to create a new agency which will have the authority in policymaking, planning, coordination, implementation and evaluation of programs relating to disaster risk reduction and management.

The senator cited the need for enhanced coordination between the national government and local government units (LGUs) to effectively respond to the needs of communities before and after calamities, such as typhoons.

The measure aims to strengthen the country’s disaster risk reduction and management system and institutions, particularly the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), which was created in 2010.

In the wake of Tropical Depression Usman, which hit the Bicol region and Samar provinces over the weekend, Poe said she received text messages from people trapped in their homes and seeking help.

“It seems coordination between the national government and (LGUs) remains lacking as the NDRRMC really does not have a point person,” Poe said.

She said a point person or an official directly responsible for disaster management is needed to end finger-pointing by government agencies during calamities.

“(The creation of DDREM) has been discussed for a long time and we had many priority legislation that became laws. It’s sad we only remember this when disaster strikes,” she said.

The NDRRMC is under the Department of National Defense (DND), which is also addressing many other concerns, she said.

Poe also observed that the NDRRMC is almost powerless because it is not headed by an official with Cabinet rank.

Under SB 1735, the NDRRMC shall be transferred from the DND to the proposed DDREM. 

The proposed department shall serve as the secretariat and executive arm and convert the NDRRMC’s plan into “specific operational guidelines and programs.” It shall also have regional offices.

The proposed department shall also have bureaus on disaster resilience, disaster preparation and response and knowledge management and dissemination.

The Senate committee on national defense and security is deliberating on the bill. Poe hopes the Senate will act fast to pass it.  

The House of Representatives earlier approved its version of the bill on final reading.

Session resumes on Jan. 14 but Congress will go on a break anew starting February for the electoral campaign.

Poe had filed the bill as early as 2013, saying the government should not just sit and wait for disasters to happen, given the frequency of extreme weather situations being experienced by the country. – With Rainier Allan Ronda, Paolo Romero