PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the military and police to oversee the distribution of cash aid in areas where local government units cannot handle the dole-out because of the devastation from Typhoon “Odette”.
In a command conference in Cebu City last week, the President pointed to logistical problems in delivering the cash assistance to typhoon survivors.
He said he has called in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police because they are trained to operate in adverse conditions.
“The military and the police must come into the picture. I don’t know how bad it is here,” Duterte said.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año will supervise the security forces that will be assigned to cash distribution operations, the President said.
Duterte said tapping security forces does not mean he suspects that local officials would pocket the funds, but the presence of soldiers and policemen will ensure that order is maintained.
“That is what I am avoiding, which is why the police [should] really come in. Stricter supervision among the people. My caveat there is let’s go easy. You know, if a person is hungry, especially if his children are crying, he can go crazy,” he said.
The death toll from Typhoon Odette rose 378 on Sunday, but disaster officials ruled out the need for mass graves.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) also reported that the number of injured has increased to 742, and the missing to 60.
“The mass grave option is only used if there is a staggering/overwhelming number of fatalities in one given location that the local mortuary facilities are not able to bear,” NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal said.
“The fatalities are tagged as unidentified while their identities are still being established alongside the documentation, verification, validation and processing of the cadavers. Once they are properly identified, with the usual certifications, their names are duly recorded and included in the official list of casualties. The cadavers are kept in the mortuaries while the process is in progress until they are claimed by their families,” he said.
The NDRRMC also said 1,012,997 families or 3,952,880 individuals in 5,908 villages were affected by Typhoon Odette. The typhoon cut a swathe of destruction across the southwestern section of Luzon, all three Visayas regions, Northern Mindanao, Caraga, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Close to 150,000 houses were destroyed and 330,000 sustained damage.
Damage to agriculture was estimated at almost P4 billion and to infrastructure at P16 billion.
The NDRRMC said electricity has been restored in 150 municipalities and cities, and 73 seaports have resumed operations.
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) said it has launched relief operations in typhoon-hit areas, and will hold construction-related training for affected residents.
Tesda said in statement its provincial training center (PTC) in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, set up solar-powered charging stations so residents could recharge their cellphones and other devices for free.
In Eastern Visayas, the agency’s provincial office distributed food packs, clean water and used clothes. A PTC in Agusan Del Norte in Caraga also distributed food, bottled water and masks to 225 individuals in the village of Humiloh in the Remedios T. Romualdez town.
Personnel from Tesda’s field offices in Western Visayas were deployed to help rebuild damaged buildings and conduct clearing operations.
Tesda chief Isidro Lapeña directed all regional and provincial offices to prepare training programs in areas affected by the disaster to help residents rebuild their houses.
Residents in affected areas where it could take time before electricity is restored will be trained to install solar panels, Lapeña added.
