Gov’t team shifts to recovery phase

MANILA, Philippines - Residents of areas devastated by Typhoon Ruby showed a strong sense of self-recovery as they started to pick up the pieces and help in restoration efforts, Malacanang said yesterday. 

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said residents were cooperating with local authorities and contributing to restoration work, helping bring Samar past the emergency phase and into recovery phase.

But despite the resilience and preparations by the government to save people’s lives, much work would have to be done due to the damage caused by Ruby, officials said.

Lacierda said the national government frontline team met in Borongan, Eastern Samar to discuss the government’s efforts to ensure responses in areas affected by the typhoon.

He said Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II stressed that current priorities involve the distribution of food supplies and medical aid as well as clearing operations to make roads passable.

“Inaccessible isolated interior and island barangays will be reached via Air Force chopper,” Lacierda said.

He added that the Department of Social Welfare and Development is establishing supply hubs in Borongan and Catarman and coordinating with international organizations on the delivery of food and other necessities.

“They are also working to set up tents and temporary shelters. To safeguard the health of evacuees, the Department of Health will conduct immunizations to prevent the outbreak of diseases in evacuation centers,” Lacierda said.

The Department of Energy was expected to restore partial power in Leyte and Samar yesterday or today and would begin restoration work in Samar.

In the meantime, Lacierda said the Philippine National Police was maintaining high police visibility in evacuation centers and commercial areas.

“As a result, there have so far been no reports of looting, robbery or assault,” he said.

Encouraging reports

Valte said reports from the field were encouraging because people were more cooperative than before.

“Albay reported zero casualties and they were saying they learned this from Typhoon Reming that battered the province which they did not forget,” Valte said.

She said this would show that people were learning their lessons from past disasters and not just from Yolanda.

Valte said the reinforcements for National Government Frontline Team led by Roxas, including Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman and Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla along with international aid organizations, arrived in the Visayan provinces early.

She added that while there were problems in communication, Cabinet secretaries were in constant touch with President Aquino.

She said there were no reports about traders taking advantage of the situation and unduly raising prices, adding there were no discussions yet on a possible declaration of a state of calamity, particularly in Metro Manila and other areas in Luzon, that would be affected by Ruby.

She said the Department of Trade and Industry was also readying the rollout of “Diskwento Caravan” as per the President’s instructions during the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council briefing last week.

The DTI-National Capital Region reported that supplies and prices of goods were stable.

Airports reopen

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) yesterday reopened all airports, particularly in the Visayas and Bicol regions.

“All our airports are back to normal,” CAAP deputy director general Rodante Joya said.

CAAP ordered the closure of the airports in Calbayog and Catarman in Samar; Tacloban, Leyte; Legazpi, Albay; Naga, Camarines Sur; and Masbate on Saturday.

The agency said airports are now open for commercial operations but landing and takeoff are still subject to weather conditions.

Joya urged the Philippine Airlines and Cebu Air to resume their flights to accommodate affected passengers.

The Manila International Airport Authority reported that more than 200 flights to and from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport were cancelled yesterday due to the typhoon.

Communication lines restored

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Ayala-led Globe Telecom continued yesterday to restore communication lines in provinces hit by Ruby.

PLDT’s Smart Communications Inc. and Sun Cellular have restored mobile phone coverage in the towns of Allen-Londres, San Isidro, Rosario, Bobon, Catarman, Yakal, Mondragon, San Roque, Laoan and Pambujan, all in northern Samar.

PLDT is still working on restoring services in Eastern Samar.

It said cellular service in the worst-hit areas of Samar and Biliran had started to normalize while communication lines in Masbate had been restored.

Cell sites in Marabut, Lawaan, Balangiga, Giporlos, Quinapondan, General Macarthur and Hernani, all in southern Samar, are now operating normally.

Smart is providing communications support to the national and local government units, particularly in Cebu.

Smart and Sun Cellular also set up a free call booth at the Malabon City Hall to serve the needs of residents that were evacuated ahead of the typhoon.

For its part, Globe said its network operations team is working on the restoration of a base station controller in Gigoso, Giporlos in Eastern Samar.

Globe senior vice president for corporate communications Yoly Crisanto said service disruptions were due to power outages.

Crisanto said Globe expects to restore 34 cell sites in Eastern Samar by Monday.

Power outages

At least 33 transmission lines were affected by Typhoon Ruby, resulting in power outages in some areas in Luzon and Visayas, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.

In its 3 p.m. advisory, the NGCP said 16 of the 33 toppled transmission facilities had been restored.

The NGCP said precautionary measures were taken to minimize the impact of the typhoon on its operation and facilities. – With Lawrence Agcaoili, Iris Gonzales