By Brian Campued
The government has distributed at least P1.2 billion to the victims of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine and Super Typhoon Leon, according to a situational report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) as of 7:00 a.m. Monday.
This assistance includes food and non-food items provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Office of the Civil Defense, local government units (LGUs), and non-government organizations.
In a social media post, the DSWD said that as of 6:00 p.m. Sunday it has released around 1,038,729 family food packs across regions affected by the recent tropical cyclones.
Kristine and Leon affected a total of 2,201,570 families or 8,634,862 individuals, the NDRRMC said. Kristine left at least 150 dead, 134 injured, and 20 missing.
Of these figures, around 55,626 displaced families or 223,164 persons have taken shelter in evacuation centers, while some 108,929 families or 521,783 individuals are outside temporary shelters.
Meanwhile, P5.9 billion worth of damages and losses to agriculture were recorded in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and SOCCSKSARGEN.
Damages to infrastructure in CAR, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and SOCCSKSARGEN reached P7.5 billion.
Some 251 LGUs have also declared a State of Calamity in their areas.
Kristine battered most of Luzon on Oct. 21–25, causing widespread flooding and landslides and displacing millions of people, particularly in the Bicol Region. Leon lashed the extreme northern Luzon, especially Batanes, in the last week of October.
—avds