UN relief goods ready for Cagayan residents

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya , Philippines  – Almost two weeks after the devastating Typhoon Pepeng hit northern Luzon, relief goods via a United Nations-chartered chopper started to make way to two of the country’s northernmost Cagayan island villages, which, as of the other day, have yet to be reached by the government’s relief efforts.

According to Cagayan Valley police director Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian, packs of relief goods are now underway to the island town of Calayan and its villages as well as in Fuga island, whose residents have been reportedly now starving due to the delayed arrival of food and medicine supplies amid the inclement weather.

“A (UN chartered) Russian military helicopter has arrived in Tuguegarao City (on Friday) with goods (ready for airlifting) to Calayan and Fuga island. The (chopper) will be making five sorties of 12,500 kilograms of relief goods (for these areas if) the weather permits,” said Damian, also the chair of the regional development council.

Calayan and Fuga are about eight hours by sea from mainland Luzon through the extremely dangerous Balintang Channel, where the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea meet.

Calayan has some 15,000 residents while Aparri town’s Fuga island accounts for some 1,600 residents. Difficulty of reaching these areas have been aggravated by the bad weather since Pepeng lashed through the region earlier this month. 

UN assistance

With the UN assistance, President Arroyo, through Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, also the head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, ordered the immediate airlifting of the relief goods to the said areas, Damian said.

The anticipated arrival of the goods came amid reports of food stocks running out in the said areas, whose major supplies of prime commodities depend from mainland Cagayan, which, until now, is still reeling from its P2 billion losses in crops and infrastructure as a result of the typhoon.

Reports indicated that food and medicine shortages had been especially noted in Babuyan Claro in Calayan town, as well as in neighboring Fuga island.

Calayan Mayor Joseph Llopis called on the national government for immediate relief assistance for his constituents whose major local based source of livelihood – fishing and farming, had been adversely affected.

Besides the unpredictable weather conditions, Llopis said the problem was aggravated by the distance of the site from the relief goods sources of Aparri and Santa Ana towns, which both take around eight hours to reach the site.

“Priority was given to the island province of Batanes which was also reported to be experiencing shortage of foodstuffs like here in Calayan,” Llopis said.

Itbayat town in Batanes and the rest of the island province had also been earlier reported to be experiencing the same shortage of food, medicines and gasoline.