by Priam Nepomuceno/PNA
MANILA — The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), through its Management of the Dead and the Missing (MDM) Cluster, is now validating reports that the inclement weather caused by Tropical Depression “Usman” has caused 61 fatalities in Regions V and VIII.
This was bared by NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad in a statement forwarded late Sunday. Initial reports said that Region V had 50 fatalities while Region VIII had 11.
Jalad said 18 persons are still reported missing in the two regions while another 12 were reportedly injured in MIMAROPA and Region V.
The MDM Cluster is led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
“The NDRRM Operation Centers and Regional DRRM Operation Centers of the affected regions are still on alert status and are continously monitoring the on-going response efforts in the affected areas,” the NDRRMC chief said.
Meanwhile, 89 personnel from the Philippine National Police, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Philippine Air Force, the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard, together with Provincial Incident Management Team, are currently conducting search, rescue, and retrieval operations in Tiwi, Nabua, Iriga and Buhi, in response to reported landslides and flooding.
Response assets such as rubber and aluminum boats, trucks and a backhoe are already deployed in the said areas.
Last Dec. 29, another search, rescue, and retrieval was conducted in Region V, particularly in Legazpi and Libon, where landslides and flooding were also reported.
