LIVE: Senate hearing into severe flooding amid 'Ulysses' onslaught
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate committees on environment and on public works on Thursday will hold an inquiry into the massive flooding experienced by Luzon when it was battered by Typhoon Ulysses last month.
The joint panel will primarily discuss Philippine Senate Resolution No. 581, filed by Sen. Cynthia Villar, which calls for an inquiry "on the alleged denuded state of forests and watersheds as well as the apparent heavy siltation on rivers and tributaries."
In her resolution, Villar — who chairs the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change — said the sorry state of forests and watersheds "contributed to the immense flooding in some parts of Luzon during the onslaught ofthe recent typhoons, particularly Typhoon Ulysses."
She added that the goal of the probe would be to create legislation that would strengthen "the conservation of the country's forest cover and waterways in order to mitigate, if not altogether prevent, the devastating effects of natural disasters."
Sen. Manny Pacquiao chairs the panel on public works.
The joint panel will also take into consideration five other resolutions similarly calling for probes into the causes of the flooding and disaster which aggravated the adverse effects of Ulysses:
- PS Resolution No. 570, filed by Sen. Bong Revilla, urges an inquiry on "the massive flooding caused by water releases from dams."
- PS Resolution No. 571, filed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, seeks a probe into the "causes of severe flooding in the aftermath of Ulysses."
- PS Resolution No. 573, filed by Sen. Imee Marcos, calls for an investigation of the "alleged man-made disaster following the onslaught of Ulysses."
- PS Resolution No. 575, filed by Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, calls for a probe into the "unprecedented flooding in Cagayan Valley and Isabela."
- PS Resolution No. 579, filed by Sen. Leila de Lima, calls for an inquiry into the "underlying causes of the recent record-high flooding in the aftermath of Typhoon Ulysses."
— Bella Perez-Rubio
Follow this thread for updates on tropical cyclone Ulysses (international name: Vamco).
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana clarifies that Vice President Leni Robredo did not use any military aircraft to provide relief goods in typhoon-hit Catanduanes.
Lorenzana further explains that an Air Force "Huey helicopter was used on November 3 to deliver relief goods from Robredo from Legazpi City in Albay to Catanduanes.
"I requested the Philippine Air Force to confirm through their flight manifest and they reported that there was no instance that Vice President Robredo boarded any military aircraft in going to Catanduanes," Lorenzana says.
Cagayan province announces that all classes in public and private schools will remain suspended until the end of November.
Gov. Manual Mamba notes that floodwaters are slowly receding but relief distribution to affected families continue.
"...[I]t is necessary to give families and communities enough time to recover from the devastation, and to avoid compounding the stresses of rehabilitating their homes and their livelihoods with the challenges of distance learning," Mamba says in an executive order released Tuesday.
PUBLIC ADVISORY OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR November 17, 2020 KLASE SA LAHAT NG ANTAS, MAPA-PUBLIKO O PRIBADO SUSPENDIDO...
Posted by Cagayan Provincial Information Office on Monday, 16 November 2020
The House of Representatives will investigate the cause of the massive flooding in Cagayan and Isabela during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses.
“As the death toll continues to rise, and the extent of damage is slowly being revealed, there is an urgent need to examine the actions that were taken during, before and after the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses,” Speaker Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque) says.
Velasco, together with Majority Leader Martin Romualdez (Leyte) and Minority Leader Joseph Paduano (Abang Lingkod Party-list), file a House resolution directing the appropriate committee to look into the matter immediately.
Search and retrieval teams composed of policemen, soldiers and local officials who have been searching for three days now since the harrowing landslide in barangay Viewpoint, Banaue, Ifugao another three cadavers Sunday.
Nine bodies were already recovered from the November 11 nighttime landslide that buried a house where 11 individuals including four DPWH personnel (including 2 Engineers) were having coffee in barangay Viewpoint, Banaue. Search teams are still looking for one of the victims.
A survivor meanwhile is now recuperating. — The STAR/Artemio Dumlao
Vice President Leni Robredo visits Cagayan Valley on Sunday morning to deliver relief assistance to victims of the massive flooding brought about by Typhoon Ulysses.
The vice president went to several evacuation centers in Tuguegarao City to bring food packs, drinking water and mattresses, according to her team.
"The Vice President has instructed her office's ground team to assess the situation in hard-hit areas and continue the relief operations in the province, with the help of private partners under the Angat Buhay program," the OVP says.
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