President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sent various forms of assistance through national government agencies to over 2,600 families in Binmaley, Pangasinan on Monday.
Marcos was represented by Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo together with Cabinet secretaries during the distribution in Barangay Sabangan.
“Mga food packs, tapos may mga, I think, Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) nagbigay na ng mga assistance sa mga walang bahay. May mga temporary shelters sila naibigay. Siyempre, ngayon nagbigay naman ng mga cash assistance for the local government units (LGUs) (There are food packs, I think the OCD distributed assistance to those who have lost their home. They gave temporary shelters. There is also cash assistance to the LGUs),” Pangasinan Gov. Ramon Guico III said in an interview.
He said the provincial government also received PHP50 million from the national government, which will be used for rehabilitation and the urgent needs of the affected residents.
An estimated 345,673 families or a total of over 1.1 individuals were affected by the onslaught of Super Typhoon Uwan on Nov. 9 to 10.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development has also distributed PHP5,265 Emergency Cash Transfer aside from the Family Food Packs to the affected families in Binmaley town.
The Department of Health also gave away 300 hygiene kits, 300 jerry cans with aqua tabs and oral health kits, according to DOH-Ilocos Region Director Paula Paz Sydiongco.
She said they are also conducting a medical mission with 10 doctors and 10 nurses since Barangay Sabangan was considered among the areas that were badly hit by storm surge.
On the other hand, the Department of Labor and Employment conducted profiling of the residents for the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program.
“Maraming-maraming salamat po sa ating Pangulo sa naibabang mga tulong ngayon. Sana po ang resulta ng aming napagpulungan kanina, napagkasunduan, ay mabigyan kaagad ng aksyon dahil kailangan po ng ating mga kapatid. Pero maraming-maraming salamat po sa pagpapahalaga po sa aming lalawigan (Thank you so much to our President for the assistance given today. We hope that the results of our meeting a while ago will be given immediate action as this is needed by our provincemates. Thank you so much for giving us (province) importance),” Guico said.
He said they have discussed various projects as long-term solutions to the flooding and impacts of storm surge in the province.
Based on the report of the Pangasinan Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, as of Nov. 17, the 9.8-foot storm surge brought by Uwan has left PHP1.3 billion in damage to agriculture and PHP176.5 million to infrastructure. There were also 31,638 partially damaged houses and 2,980 totally destroyed houses.
Nonetheless, there were no reported casualties in the province.
“It was also emphasized that there were no casualties in spite of the super typhoon category, in spite of the coastal communities experiencing high tide and storm surge, there was no death reported. And this is a result of the proper implementation of the preemptive evacuation and forced evacuation,” Guico said.
The governor assured residents that “the province will be working with the LGUs, barangay, and national government for us to fully recover from this calamity.” (PNA)