MMDA sends relief team to Tacloban

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) early  Tuesday sent a 200-strong relief team to Tacloban City which was ravaged by sypertyphoon Yolanda.

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said the relief contigent will assist in the ongoing repair and rehabilitation of areas in the city which was hit by the typhoon.

Tolentino said the MMDA contingent includes civil engineers, carpenters, mechanics, electricians, and laborers. The team left Manila at 3 am and will stay in Tacloban for two weeks.

"Their mission is to help clear Tacloban of debris and wreckage that have blocked important roadways so as to hasten the safe movement of residents and emergency response units,” Tolentino said.

Also part of the MMDA team are personnel from the agency's Traffic Engineering Center (TEC), Metro Parkway Clearing Group (MPCG), Road Emergency Group (REG) as well as radio operators, nurses, welders, masons, and drivers.

Tolentino said the team also brought with them heavy equipment such as payloaders, dump trucks, tow trucks, forklifts, graders, backhoes, buses, and ambulances, and rescue and special tools like hook lifts, bolt cutters, generators, a water treatment machine, chainsaws, and battery-operated radios.

Tolentino said the MMDA team will closely work with the local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) to speed up the clearing and repair works.

“Leyte is devastated. Thousands were killed, and almost everyone lost their homes. It is our desire to help residents rebuild their communities and bring back normalcy to the city,” Tolentino said.

On Saturday, the MMDA deployed search teams to Tacloban and Ormoc cities in Leyte and Borongan in Eastern Samar to assist in the rescue and relief operations.