Tacloban City declared under state of calamity

CEBU, Philippines – Tacloban City may have incurred minimal damage from typhoon Ruby but the City Council, in an emergency session Monday afternoon, approved a resolution declaring the city under a state of calamity.

The resolution was carried out upon the recommendation of Mayor Alfred Romualdez, according to Councilor Jerry Uy, who said the declaration was intended for drawing calamity funds for the rehabilitation and repair of infrastructures damaged by flooding and strong winds brought about by Ruby.

With such declaration, the city’s 138 barangays can now use their respective calamity funds and be able to control prices of basic goods or prime commodities, said Uy.

Leyte province, meanwhile, has not made a similar declaration, but the Provincial Board of Eastern Samar had declared the province under a state of calamity.

Some parts of Tacloban was flooded and several government buildings had their roofing damaged by the typhoon, and the tent city that sheltered Yolanda survivors was also destroyed, said Uy, adding that the tents have been repaired immediately by the city government.

Uy said the city government has been working to move the families out of the tent city and resettled them to better and stronger shelters, which are now being constructed by the city. “When a shelter is completed, a family from the tent city is immediately transferred there,” he said.   Ruby also destroyed some bunkhouses, which served as transitional shelters for Yolanda survivors, and personnel of the Department of Public Works and Highways responded by repairing the damaged buildings.

On power restoration, the city remained in blackout because of few electrical posts tilted by the strong winds, but the power authorities said they were still repairing the wirings that were cut off by the typhoon.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines issued this timeline for restoration of power in Eastern Visayas:

The Don Orestes Romualdez Electric Coop and the Leyte Electric Cooperative 3 will restore power in their areas today; LEYECO 2 and Biliran Electric Coop will have theirs tomorrow; Samar Electric Coop 1 and 2 and Northern Samar Electric Coop on Saturday; while the Eastern Samar Electric Coop said restoration shall be determined later on as it is still assessing the extent of the damage.

The Philippine Air Lines will resume its operations today but will operate only three flights to and from Manila and Tacloban: PR2981/2982; PR2193/2194; and PR2985/2986.  Water supply in Tacloban has been restored yesterday, but those in some areas, such as in the V & G Subdivision, the supply was still very low.

The Leyte Metropolitan Water District said the water source had still impurities from mud due to overflowing at the height of typhoon Ruby.

All evacuees in the city’s evacuation centers have returned to their houses, including those at the Pope Francis House in Palo, Leyte who went home after a Mass celebrated by Archbishop John Du. Father Amadeo Alvero, social communications director of the Palo Archdiocese, conveyed a message of Pope Francis expressing happiness upon learning that his “house” in Palo was used as an evacuation center for the residents fleeing from Ruby’s wrath.

Regarding the papal visit, Alvero said there were no changes in the itinerary of Pope Francis despite Ruby’s damages in the city.

The archdiocese had requested the government to declare a holiday in Palo and Tacloban during the pope’s visit. Parishioners were also requested to register now for them to be issued with IDs to be able to attend the papal Mass at the Tacloban Airport, said Alvero.