Palace official responds to Taguig’s appeal

In response to an urgent appeal by Mayor Jose "Pepe" Capco, Presidential Adviser for Children’s Affairs Jamby Abad Santos-Madrigal mobilized her office to provide relief goods to hundreds of families still living in evacuation centers after the town was submerged in floodwaters weeks ago.

The Palace adviser arrived here in foul weather to bring relief items that included food, medicine and some clothing to hundreds of families who cannot yet return to their homes.

Later, Ms. Madrigal called on Capco to discuss the flooding, the worst to hit the town in more than a dozen years and the fourth such disaster in 30 years.

"This is a quick response to Mayor Capco’s appeal because your people deserve assistance at this time, especially those with young families and children," the Palace official said.

Capco said more than 3,000 persons have been evacuated, including hundreds of children, as 60 percent of Pateros was flooded in the wake of two successive typhoons.

Hardest hit of the barangays was Sta. Ana, which was 80-percent flooded, forcing a major evacuation the town has not seen in a dozen years, Capco told Ms. Madrigal.

After visiting one evacuation center, Ms. Madrigal said the relief operation was organized "because Pateros needs our most urgent response to its appeal for assistance."

Most of the beneficiaries were families with young children.

Capco appealed for more donations to flood victims, especially food and medicine, as well as coconut lumber which he said will help ease the plight of more than 7,000 residents who remained in their homes despite appeals for their evacuation.

Meanwhile, Taguig Mayor Ricardo Papa he warned residents against water-borne diseases, particularly leptospirosis, which may break out as a result of floodwaters still submerging major portions of the town.

Papa urged residents to seek immediate help from the municipal health office upon detection of symptoms of the dreaded disease, such as high fever and a breakout of rashes and itchiness.

The mayor also advised residents to practice proper hygiene and take daily baths and wash the lower part of the body after wading through murky floodwaters.

Leptospirosis, a killer disease, can be caught when those with open wounds, trudge through floodwaters infected by the urine of rats which carry the disease vector. – Rainier Allan Ronda