MANILA — With Typhoon Ompong threatening to hit a large part of the country, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Ricardo Jalad said some PHP1.1 billion worth of cash and other relief items have been prepositioned in Regions 1 (Ilocos), 2 (Cagayan Valley), 3 (Central Luzon), and the Cordillera Administrative Region.
Jalad made the announcement during the command conference for “Ompong”, which President Rodrigo Duterte presided over on Thursday.
The inventory, conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), consists of cash, family food packs and other relief items.
Jalad said the NDRRMC Food and Non-Food Cluster also activated and deployed quick response teams in Batanes as they expect the island to be isolated once the typhoon makes landfall.
“There is ongoing repacking of relief goods in their main warehouse in Pasay and the team in Batanes is equipped with backup communications or satellite phones and portable data communication equipment,” he added.
The Health Cluster, led by the Department of Health (DOH), has activated emergency response teams with some of these units now deployed in various regional offices.
“The DOH has (made) available 28 health emergency management teams, which can be tapped in the event it is necessary to be deployed in those four regions,” Jalad said.
Meanwhile, the Search Rescue-and-Retrieval Cluster, headed by the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which the NDRRMC chief said is a rapid damage and needs assessment team, is now in Clark, Pampanga and is ready to be deployed anywhere in the four regions once needed. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
