Marcos visits flooded Tacloban, quake-hit GenSan

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos visited Tacloban and General Santos cities yesterday to oversee the government’s response to the floods that inundated parts of Eastern Visayas and the earthquake that hit Mindanao.

Marcos directed state agencies to fast-track the giving of relief to Northern and Eastern Samar residents affected by floods caused by the low-pressure area (LPA) and shear line.

He also assured earthquake victims in Mindanao that the government would provide them all the assistance they need to recover from the disaster.

The President’s visits to Tacloban and General Santos were his first public engagements since arriving from his week-long visit to the US, where he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and met with Filipino communities in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Hawaii.

Marcos was supposed to land in Catarman town yesterday morning, but the bad weather prevented him from visiting the Northern Samar capital. He presided over a situational briefing with Samar officials in Tacloban City via Zoom.

During the briefing, he instructed the public works department to ensure that all roads are passable so that the government could distribute relief goods faster.

“The public works – as soon as the public works is able to enter, do the necessary repairs so that bigger vehicles can enter – as soon as it’s passable all efforts can go in and do the repairs necessary,” the President said.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian said more than 100,000 food packs have been prepared for distribution to the flood-hit families in Eastern and Northern Samar.

The department is also coming up with a final list of families and persons whose houses were destroyed or partially damaged which will serve as the government’s basis for the giving of aid.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) will also distribute seedlings and other agricultural products to affected families.

“We know the challenges being faced by the families affected by the LPA and shear line in Samar. In response, we directed the DSWD to continue supporting the victims, the DA to assist our farmers and the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) to ensure the steady flow of aid to our Waray countrymen,” Marcos said in a Facebook post.

Marcos also asked agencies and local governments to ensure the availability of potable water in flood-hit communities.

“What we usually do is we provide water purification equipment. So, we will as soon as possible, send in those, (but) for the moment we’ll just have to provide actual water,” he said.

Local officials noted that there is an available water filtration system in Bicol while the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority could also bring in additional water purifying machines.
Marcos said the current infrastructures could no longer handle floodwater caused by excessive rain.

GenSan visit

During his visit to General Santos, Marcos led the distribution of relief to communities affected by the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Sarangani province last Friday.

Marcos called on residents to be vigilant for possible aftershocks and assured them that the government has prepared all the necessary assistance except those needed for the rebuilding of damaged houses.

“We cannot start the rebuilding yet because there are aftershocks. The problem with earthquakes is that there is no forecast. We do not know what will happen,” he said in Filipino.

“But we have all the assistance, the needs of those who lost their homes, the fishermen, the injured. The DSWD will continue to provide them,” he added.

Present during the aid distribution in General Santos was former senator Manny Pacquiao, one of Marcos’ rivals in the 2022 presidential race.