By Priam Nepomuceno | Philippine News Agency
Initial inspections in areas affected by the torrential rains caused by the southwest monsoon (habagat) showed that Pampanga is the hardest-hit province so far, a ranking Office of Civil Defense (OCD) official said Monday.
OCD Deputy Administrator for Administration and Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, in an online briefing, said they conducted aerial inspections on the affected areas, the latest of which is Monday morning, and saw that flood waters remain high at the municipality of San Simon and in most parts of the Pampanga.
He said 330 villages in 20 local governments in Pampanga are still flooded.
Thus, the request by Gov. Lilia Pineda and disaster response officials for the national government agencies to sustain its relief and response operations since local government personnel have been working hard since the past three weeks, which OCD officials readily agreed.
Alejandro said Defense Undersecretary Irineo Espino and Undersecretary Harold Cabreros “committed that we will address those things” to let emergency response personnel from Pampanga as well as Zambales and Tarlac rest a bit.
He said they managed to reach Tarlac during the aerial inspection on Monday, and saw the two bridges destroyed by last week’s heavy flooding.
Alejandro said a more detailed inspection can be done by Tuesday as their inspection was hampered by heavy rains.
He said they will also check Zambales and Pangasinan, noting the weather bureau’s forecast of continued rains in the next two days.
Earlier, the OCD said combined effects of tropical cyclones Luis, Maymay, and Neneng and the southwest monsoon have, so far, affected around 8.8 million people, or about 2.5 million families, residing in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Cordillera, and the National Capital Region.
Reported deaths are now at 33, with 19 injured and three missing. (PNA)
