‘Relief transport to calamity-hit areas unaffected by NAIA glitch’

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) yesterday assured the public that technical issues that caused flight-related problems last Sunday have not affected the transport of relief items and other important cargo to calamity-hit areas of the Visayas and Mindanao, where the number of fatalities has increased to 51.

“The relief operations of OCD in areas affected by the shear line (rainfall) were not disrupted as the relief items were transported via land transportation from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other private partners, and via sea assets of the Philippine Navy,” a statement issued by the OCD read.

The OCD, the mother agency of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said the last air mission for the ongoing relief efforts for shear line affected communities was last Dec. 30 utilizing a Philippine Air Force (PAF) transport aircraft.

Because the transport of relief goods is not done through commercial flights, the OCD said help for those affected by heavy rains and flooding during the Christmas weekend would continue.

“The last air mission in connection with the transport of assistance to the affected areas was on Dec. 30, 2022 via a C-295. As of reporting time, we have no pending or scheduled air transport mission with the PAF,” the agency said.

Meanwhile, the NDRRMC said the number of deaths, mostly by drowning, in the Visayas and Mindanao provinces affected by the shear line rainfall has increased from 49 to 51.

As of yesterday, 19 persons remain missing in various areas, including fishermen in Bicol, the Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Caraga and other regions.

Some 2,811 families or 8,666 persons are still being provided temporary shelter and help at 78 different evacuation centers, according to the NDRRMC.

School repair

In a related development, the shear line-induced rains and floods had caused damage to public schools that need an estimated P363.5 million to repair and rehabilitate, according to the Department of Education (DepEd).

DepEd spokesman Michael Poa said they have tallied a total of 36 public schools that sustained damage from the flooding.

A majority of the adversely affected schools were in Northern Mindanao with 25, Caraga (10) and Zamboanga peninsula (one).

Poa said a number of schools have served as temporary evacuation centers.

He added that as of yesterday, the number of schools had grown, especially in Caraga, while in some areas, decampment had already been done.

“The figures are continuously changing due to decampment on one hand, while in other places there have been additions,” Poa told education reporters in a Viber group message. – Rainier Allan Ronda