Palace: Funds available for flood victims

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang assured yesterday that P12.9 million worth of funds as well as P5.8 million for food and other needs of the victims of the flashfloods in Cagayan and Isabela had been set aside by the government.

Deputy Presidential Spokes­person Abigail Valte said field officers of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council were already preposi­tioned to be of help to the people.

At least 200 villages in Cagayan and Isabela are still flooded due to nearly week­long rains, which also left nine people dead and more than 60,000 families affected in the two provinces and another fatality in Kalinga.

Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy III said floodwaters had yet to subside in 117 villages in at least 12 towns, whose residents were still reeling from the devastation caused by super typhoon Juan. Isabela has been under a state of calamity since Oct. 19 when Juan battered the region and the rest of northern and central Luzon, leaving the province with P3.5 billion in crop losses and infrastructure damage.

Ilagan and Tuguegarao City, capital of Cagayan, were the worst flood-hit areas in the region, with more than 120 barangays still flooded as of Friday.

In northern Aurora, the towns of Dinalungan, Casi­guran and Dilasag were still cut off due to landslides.

Valte said the DSWD and NDRRMC officers would see what could be done and to help mitigate the effects of the flood. “Our people, they are on the ground and they are already rendering assistance to those who are victims of the recent flashfloods,” Valte said over dzRB.