More Coast Guard vessels set to transport relief to Odette-stricken areas
MANILA, Philippines — Relief operations are still being conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard in areas devastated by Super Typhoon Odette (international name Rai) with relief items delivered to areas in Bohol, Surigao, Leyte, Palawan, and Cebu.
Many roads still remain impassable, making water transport crucial in bringing goods to affected areas. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, Odette’s total damage to infrastructure stood at P585.8 million, the Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement.
In its report to Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, the PCG said that as of Wednesday, nine vessels that were dispatched are already unloading the needed relief items.
According to the PCG, MRVV-4401 (BRP Tubbataha) safely arrived in Tagbilaran, Bohol, on Tuesday, and is now unloading 30 sacks of rice, two drums of gasoline, a generator set, a box of canned tuna, and four rolls of tarpaulin.
Also now unloading relief items are the following PCG vessels:
- BRP Gabriela Silang arrived at the EVA Macapagal Terminal, Surigao City.
- BRP Cabra arrived at Ormoc City, Leyte.
- BRP Nueva Vizcaya arrived at Lapuz Wharf, Iloilo City.
- BRP Sindangan arrived at Surigao with 250 passengers and 22 motorcycles
- BRP Cape Engaño arrived at Puerto Princesa Port, Palawan.
- BRP Cape San Agustin now off Sibago Island, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARRM) carrying bottles of mineral water, flashlights with batteries, sacks of rice, and other relief items from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
- BRP Bagacay now en route to Surigao City carrying food packs, bottled water, and sacks of rice.
- MRRV-4402 (MALABRIGO) carrying communications personnel, bottled water, and fuel, is now off Manlibat Point in Cebu.
The following PCG vessels are being prepared and will depart to unload relief items when ready:
- BRP Bojeador now in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
- BRP Batangas now in Roxas City, Palawan.
- BRP Habagat now in Manila to depart for Negros Occidental.
- BRP Corregidor now in Manila to depart for Palawan.
- BRP Capones now loading construction materials in Palawan to depart for the Kalayaan Island Group.
BRP Lapu Lapu also left Pier 13, Manila South Harbor on Wednesday with personnel of the Philippine National Police Maritime Group, and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources en route to Lucena City in Quezon.
The PCG also deployed its Cessna 2081 Caravan turboprop aircraft to conduct an aerial survey of Palawan and an assessment of the situation at the Kalaayan Island Group.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Odette also displaced 446,939 people or 109,601 families, forcing them to stay in 2,506 evacuation centers. There are also 107,377 people or 26,588 families seeking temporary shelter in friends or relatives.
PAGASA says severe tropical storm Rai entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility at around 7 p.m. Tuesday. It was assigned the local name Odette.
Telco giant Globe has completed network service repairs in municipalities of Anda, Dauis, Loon and Panglao in Bohol, San Fernando in Cebu, and Baybay, Albuera in Leyte, and Limasawa in Southern Leyte.
Services in Mindanao's Tagana-an, Surigao del Norte have also been restored as of January 4.
Globe says it has equipped local government units affected by Super Typhoon Odette with an M360 platform, used to send SMS updates to their offices and constituencies. "Palawan, Southern Leyte, and Cebu municipalities Naga, Cordova and the city of Mandaue, were among the first to avail of this free service," the telco says in a release.
Network coverage has been restored in 98% of areas with PLDT and Smart coverage in Bacolod.
The telco group says in a release that network services have been restored in 90% of Visayas cities and municipalities affected by Super Typhoon Odette.
Earlier, PLDT-Smart reported the full restoration of services in Antique, Iloilo, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar.
The Technical Education and Skils Development Authority in the Cordillera is sending 19 trainers to Bohol, one of the provinces that was hit hard by Super Typhoon Odette last December.
The trainers will help in the recovery and rebuilding efforts in the province by giving skills training to Boholanons.
TESDA Cordillera, along with the TESDA in the Ilocos region, will be giving free training, particularly on construction-related courses. The training will help in the rebuilding homes and other structures destroyed by the strongest typhoon that visited the country since Super Typhoon Yolanda.
The trainers are from the Provincial Training Centers of TESDA Kalinga, TESDA Mountain Province, TESDA Abra, TESDA Apayao, and TESDA Ifugao. There are four trainers for Electrical Installation and Maintenance, nine trainers for Carpentry, and six trainers for Masonry. — The STAR/Artemio Dumlao
The Department of the Interior and Local Government and other regional goverment offices in SOCCSKSARGEN has sent relief supplies for typhoon-stricken areas in the Caraga Region.
The supplies were transported in a 24-vehicle convoy that included dump trucks.
The humanitarian mission is a joint initiative of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Regional Task Force on COVID-19.
The convoy on Tuesday follows an initial shipment of relief supplies to the Caraga Region that the DILG regional office initiated.
The provisions — clothings, food rations and hygiene kits — were received by DILG personnel in the Caraga region. — The STAR/John Unson
Total agriculture damage from Typhoon Odette is at P5.79 billion and counting, Agriculture Secretary William Dar says.
More than 70,000 hectares of agricultural land were affected.
Meanwhile, more than 506,000 houses were damaged by the super typhoon and may reach up to 600,000, Housing Secretary Eduardo del Rosario says.
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