A state of calamity that will last for a year has been considered in areas battered by typhoon "Paeng," particularly in the Bicol region and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, as President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. expressed dismay over the unusually high death toll.
The President said he believes authorities could have done better to prevent the unusually high number of deaths due to typhoon "Paeng."
On Saturday afternoon, the President remotely presided over the situation briefing of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on the effects of "Paeng," where he questioned local authorities in the Bangsamoro region about what could have caused the "very high number" of the death toll in the area.
"It will be important to us to look back and see why this happened. Why were we unable to prevent (the high) casualty? That seems very high for a flooding incident," Marcos said.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council recommended to Marcos the declaration "due to the effects, damage, and projected impacts by 'Paeng'" during the full council meeting.
"National state of calamity is what you are recommending. Many regions are affected, right? It already justifies a state of calamity. All right, let me wait for your resolution. Let's see," Marcos told Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr., NDRRMC chairperson.
"Let us start with that first to give me a better idea of what happened, what caused the flooding? Why did we fail to evacuate people and such a level of casualty happened? Napakataas (It is too high)," he added.
Acting Defense Secretary Jose Faustino Jr., meanwhile, clarified that after the NDRRMC validated the initial death toll report, it was found that the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao "overcounted" the reported deaths to 67.
Figure scaled down
"Just this morning, we have updates, Sir, that… the reports on the casualties from BARMM initially as 67 for validation. They conducted a meeting this morning in the BARMM area and they have corrected the figure from 67 to 40," Faustino said during the briefing.
NDRRMC spokesperson Bernardo Alejandro said 40 Bangsamoro residents have died mostly due to flooding, while the other casualties came from Western Visayas (2) and SOCCSKSARGEN (3).
At least 18 people are reported missing, 15 of them are residents of Maguindanao while the rest are from Sultan Kudarat.
Explanation asked
Caught in disbelief, Marcos said the casualty rate is "too high" and government offices must explain why the residents have not been evacuated before the storm hit the province.
During the briefing, Marcos asked Department of Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. why authorities seemed to have not been informed that heavy rainfall would happen in Maguindanao.
"I'm a little bit concerned about why the situation in Maguindanao was so bad. Let's study it further, Secretary Solidum, and we'll find what we can do for an accurate forecast especially on flooding because that seems to be the problem now," Marcos said.
We could've done better
"We could have done better in Maguindanao in terms of preparing because… the 40 deaths with 10 people missing is a little too high. We should have done better than that," he stressed.
Solidum said Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration issued sufficient heavy rainfall warnings and flood advisories.
As early as 24 October, PAGASA forecasted that there will be moderate to heavy rains in Mindanao while it placed Maguindanao province on the orange warning level on 28 October.
Marcos asked government offices to "look into" securing areas that historically are not prone to floods.
"Over the years, we already know where the water is high. There are several areas that were flooded. We need to look into that," he said.
Aid coming
Meanwhile, some P4.1 million in assistance have been so far provided to the typhoon-hit families by the Marcos administration through the Department of Social Welfare and Development, local government units, and other partners, Malacañang said.
The DSWD said the government has available overall relief resources of P1.5 billion with P445.2 million standby funds and a quick response fund and more than P1 billion worth of stockpiles ready to be distributed.
DSWD also reported at least 97,206 families have been affected by the tropical storm in multiple regions, with 12,304 families already sheltering in evacuation centers.
Marcos directed government agencies to prioritize the distribution of safe drinking water and purifying machines to families hit by the storm.
He also asked local authorities to prioritize the restoration of power supply in hospitals, and evacuation centers.
In Maguindanao, Governor Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu said almost 60 percent of its residents, or 309 barangays have been affected by "Paeng."
Mangudadatu said the national government already delivered 10,000 food packs to the province. It also received food packs from the Office of the Vice President and the Davao City government.
Marcos instructed Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos to help BARMM access calamity funds as some towns remain to be in chest-deep flood waters.
"We can facilitate the downloading of calamity funds if needed so they have everything that they need," he told Abalos.
Wide areas affected
"Paeng" pounded the main island of Luzon with maximum winds of 95 kilometers per hour after making landfall on the sparsely populated Catanduanes island before dawn.
The destruction began well ahead of landfall, with heavy rain inundating mostly rural areas in Mindanao on Thursday followed by deadly landslides and flooding on Friday.
The government revised its official death toll downward from 72 to 45 on Saturday afternoon.
Officials said some deaths had been erroneously tallied twice from the Mindanao tragedies, which accounted for 40 deaths.
The storm also killed five others elsewhere in the country.
In recent years, flash floods with mud and debris from largely deforested mountainsides have been among the deadliest hazards posed by typhoons in the Philippines.
Rescue workers are focusing on the village of Kusiong, home to between 80 and 100 people, which was buried after part of a nearby denuded mountain collapsed.
"Yesterday we were focused on rescue and recovered 11 bodies," regional civil defense chief Naguib Sinarimbo told AFP.
"Today we resumed our work, but this is already a retrieval operation because the village has been buried under rock and mud for more than a day," he added, declining to say how many are feared dead.
Photos released by the coastguard showed rescuers using an old refrigerator as an improvised boat to pull children from a flooded community in Leyte.
Toll likely to go higher
In Zamboanga City, Mayor John Dalipe said the number affected residents may still rise since all major rivers in the city were reported to have overflowed to several barangays in the commercial district.
He said some villages in the city have reported destruction on infrastructure projects, landslide incidents, and felled trees.
The City Engineer's Office is monitoring damage to infrastructures while the City Agriculturist Office is collating reports of destruction on agricultural farms and products, he said.
Dalipe has mobilized city government resources since Thursday night to respond and assist families affected by the flood.
The Malaya bridge located in the west district of the city, connecting the city to Sibuco in Zamboanga del Norte has collapsed and is now impassable to vehicles, commuters and farmers.
He personally has moved around the city to see for himself the situation of residents who fled their homes.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chaired by Mayor Dalipe approved on Friday night a resolution recommending the declaration of a state of calamity in Zamboanga City given the destruction wrought by Tropical storm "Paeng."
Nonoy Lacson
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