By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos | Philippine News Agency
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday instructed all concerned government agencies to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of assistance to victims of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami).
Marcos gave the directive after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) warned during a situation briefing at Malacañan Palace in Manila that Kristine may head back to the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).
Based on PAGASA’s forecast, there is a possibility that Kristine might interact with an approaching tropical depression, triggering the “Fujiwhara effect” which occurs when two cyclones move in the same direction and influence each other’s path and intensity.
The center of Kristine was estimated based on all available data at 410 kilometers west of Sinait, Ilocos Sur, outside PAR, as of 5:00 p.m.
Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. told Marcos that Kristine may stay inside the PAR “for a week until the end of next week.”
Marcos said the national government need not wait for the damage that Kristine and another weather disturbance could make.
“Well, it is what it is. We just have to deal with it,” he said.
“Anyway, it’s not an easy situation, there is no simple answer to any of these. We will just have to keep monitoring the situation and make sure there is always rescue and relief. That cannot stop. It doesn’t matter if there is another storm coming. We cannot stop. That cannot stop,” Marcos added.
DSWD aid
The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) latest data showed that around 150,752 family food packs and 3,231 non-food items with a total value of P111,133,601 have already been released.
The DSWD also has a national stockpile of 1,905,700 FFPs worth P1,439,033,413.58.
“As we have already experienced, as we have experienced many, many times, there are phases to the thing. There is the rescue phase, then the relief phase, and then the recovery phase, where we start to bring our people back to their normal homes, residences,” he said.
He also stressed the need to focus the government efforts on the Bicol Region, which was hardest hit by Kristine.
Marcos acknowledged the accessibility problem in Bicol, making it difficult to provide assistance to the victims of massive flooding.
“I think we continue to concentrate on Region 5 (Bicol Region) for now because they are the ones in most need. Everyone is in need but the accessibility problem of Region 5 is a little bit more pronounced than all the other areas,” Marcos said.
Aerial inspection
After the situation briefing, Marcos conducted an aerial inspection of the flooded areas in Metro Manila and the provinces of Laguna, Batangas, and Cavite.
Kristine is forecast to gradually intensify over the West Philippine Sea, according to PAGASA.
While it is likely that the tropical cyclone will remain a severe tropical storm in the next five days, the chance for it to be upgraded into a typhoon is not ruled out.
“However, a weakening trend is expected by early next week due to a possible surge of northeasterly wind flow over the West Philippine Sea,” PAGASA said.
