3,933 families still in evacuation centers

Due to Severe Tropical Storm Paeng

MANILA, Philippines — More than two weeks after the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Paeng, around 4,000 families have yet to return to their homes.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said 3,933 families or 17,914 people remained in 127 evacuation centers, mostly in Calabarzon, as of yesterday.

The NDRRMC said a total of 1,389,542 families or 5,588,493 people were affected by the storm, which left 162 persons dead.

Search and rescue operations for 29 persons who remain missing, a majority of them in Maguindanao, continue.

Losses incurred by the agriculture sector due to Paeng has ballooned to P6.3 billion.

Agricultural land in Western Visayas, Cagayan, Bicol and Calabarzon were hardest hit by the storm.

The Social Security System (SSS) said its members in Cagayan who were affected by Paeng can avail themselves of calamity loan or advance pension for three months.

SSS officer-in-charge Jaime Cauilan said SSS members in Tuguegarao City as well as the towns of Amulung and Enrile would be given priority. The three local government units were the first to approve resolutions declaring a state of calamity.

SSS members can avail themselves of  loan equivalent to their one month salary payable in two years with a 10 percent interest per annum.

Cauilan said members can file their loan applications online through the SSS portal until Feb. 16, 2023.

The Office of Civil Defense in Cagayan Valley reported that Paeng left five persons dead and thousands of families displaced in Cagayan. –  Jun Elias