MANILA, Philippines - What normally takes two to three hours of travel by road from Davao City took at least eight hours in the wake of Typhoon Pablo as several bridges were damaged and roads strewn with debris, left virtually impassable.
This was what the team from Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) went through just to bring the truckload of relief goods to the isolated towns of Baganga and Cateel, Davao Oriental. The team was among the first ones to get to the area previously unreached due to the typhoon.
Such was the degree of devastation in those towns that not one structure was left standing, including agricultural crops and sources of potable water supply. Apart from losing their loved ones, their houses and livelihood, typhoon victims had to grapple with the lack of food and clean water for drinking.
The MPIC Group, led by the PLDT-Smart Foundation, conducted relief operations in the town of Baganga in Davao Oriental, initially providing about 1,000 relief good bags; 1,000 buckets with basins; 2,000 six-liter bottles of water to typhoon victims in barangays Lambajon, Tuajon, San Victor, Kinablangan and Ban-ao.
The same quantity of relief goods was turned over to Mayor Camilo Nunez of Cateel.
Maynilad Water Services Inc. provided a water purifying machine to the town of Cateel, while Smart endorsed Lifestraw instant microbiological purifiers to the Baganga local government to be distributed to its 18 barangays. Barangay officials will be trained on their installation and use.
The entire group shored up resources to bring food and water to the remaining residents in the area.
Since power and communications have yet to be restored in the area, the group also provided interim solutions to service the power and communication needs not only of the residents but also of aid agencies and disaster management teams operating in the area.
Smart, in partnership with NGO Telecoms Sans Frontieres (Telecoms Without Borders), has been providing free call and Internet service via BGAN Satellite broadband terminals in Cateel Municipal Hall and Baganga Action Center located at the DPWH compound.
BGAN is the world’s first mobile communications service to deliver broadband data and voice, simultaneously, through a single, truly portable device, via satellite.
The satellite phones serviced the voice and data requirements of the residents and the humanitarian agencies in the area while Smart engineers are working to restore the cellular network that was also badly damaged by the typhoon.
Apart from the goods donated, One Meralco Foundation also provided generator sets to the Baganga and Cateel Typhoon Pablo Command Centers to assist relief coordination efforts.