Senator pushes for recovery efforts in Bohol, Cebu, other Odette-affected areas
MANILA, Philippines — A month after Typhoon Odette (international name Rai) pummelled through the country, Sen. Richard Gordon filed a resolution which seeks to immediately kickstart the recovery of affected areas, including four tourist sites in Visayas and Mindanao.
Senate Resolution 977, which was filed on Monday, aims to generate livelihoods for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and other affected businesses, while "reinvigorating" the local tourism industry.
"The resolution calls for immediate initiation of the early recovery of all areas affected by Typhoon Odette such as Bohol, Cebu, the Dinagat Islands, and Siargao, to help the MSMEs, and dislocated businesses; and provide support in the form of loans from government-owned and controlled corporations and other banks,” Gordon was quoted as saying in his privilege speech.
Gordon, who was formerly the tourism secretary, noted that Bohol, Cebu, Dinagat Islands and Siargao are popular tourist destinations, the local economies of which have been affected when the government implemented hard measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Gordon, who chairs his chamber's government corporations and public enterprises committee, said that the four areas were in the middle of a "renaissance caused by an uptick of tourism foot traffic as the country's number of COVID-19 cases fell sharply just as Typhoon Odette struck."
According to the senator, tourism is a major driver of the Philippine economy, which accounted for 12.7% of the country's gross domestic product in 2019. A year later, the figure fell to 5.4%, following the onset of the pandemic.
The Department of Tourism said last month that it will be working on a rehabilitation and recovery plan for the tourist destinations affected by Typhoon Odette.
Odette made landfall over Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte on December 16.
PAGASA says severe tropical storm Rai entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility at around 7 p.m. Tuesday. It was assigned the local name Odette.
Telco giant Globe has completed network service repairs in municipalities of Anda, Dauis, Loon and Panglao in Bohol, San Fernando in Cebu, and Baybay, Albuera in Leyte, and Limasawa in Southern Leyte.
Services in Mindanao's Tagana-an, Surigao del Norte have also been restored as of January 4.
Globe says it has equipped local government units affected by Super Typhoon Odette with an M360 platform, used to send SMS updates to their offices and constituencies. "Palawan, Southern Leyte, and Cebu municipalities Naga, Cordova and the city of Mandaue, were among the first to avail of this free service," the telco says in a release.
Network coverage has been restored in 98% of areas with PLDT and Smart coverage in Bacolod.
The telco group says in a release that network services have been restored in 90% of Visayas cities and municipalities affected by Super Typhoon Odette.
Earlier, PLDT-Smart reported the full restoration of services in Antique, Iloilo, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar.
The Technical Education and Skils Development Authority in the Cordillera is sending 19 trainers to Bohol, one of the provinces that was hit hard by Super Typhoon Odette last December.
The trainers will help in the recovery and rebuilding efforts in the province by giving skills training to Boholanons.
TESDA Cordillera, along with the TESDA in the Ilocos region, will be giving free training, particularly on construction-related courses. The training will help in the rebuilding homes and other structures destroyed by the strongest typhoon that visited the country since Super Typhoon Yolanda.
The trainers are from the Provincial Training Centers of TESDA Kalinga, TESDA Mountain Province, TESDA Abra, TESDA Apayao, and TESDA Ifugao. There are four trainers for Electrical Installation and Maintenance, nine trainers for Carpentry, and six trainers for Masonry. — The STAR/Artemio Dumlao
The Department of the Interior and Local Government and other regional goverment offices in SOCCSKSARGEN has sent relief supplies for typhoon-stricken areas in the Caraga Region.
The supplies were transported in a 24-vehicle convoy that included dump trucks.
The humanitarian mission is a joint initiative of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Regional Task Force on COVID-19.
The convoy on Tuesday follows an initial shipment of relief supplies to the Caraga Region that the DILG regional office initiated.
The provisions — clothings, food rations and hygiene kits — were received by DILG personnel in the Caraga region. — The STAR/John Unson
Total agriculture damage from Typhoon Odette is at P5.79 billion and counting, Agriculture Secretary William Dar says.
More than 70,000 hectares of agricultural land were affected.
Meanwhile, more than 506,000 houses were damaged by the super typhoon and may reach up to 600,000, Housing Secretary Eduardo del Rosario says.
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