Swift preemptive evac lauded

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla lauded local government units (LGUs) Tuesday for their quick and efficient preemptive evacuation of residents which led to only a few casualties during the onslaught of super typhoon "Pepito."

"In this series of five typhoons, there was barely any casualty as compared to Kristine," Remulla said.

"I believe this is the best response ever in the history of the country," he added.

Remulla said LGUs in the affected areas closely monitored the situation on the ground and oversaw the disaster management efforts in their localities.

"The local governments played a key role here. They led the preemptive evacuation as first rsponders. They set up the relief sites," he said.

Remulla, also lauded the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Fire Protection which deployed over 20k personnel to assist the LGUs in conducting the evacuation efforts. 

"They should all be commended as they were on standby despite the dangerous situation," he said.

He said the biggest lesson in the successive tropical cyclones is for the LGUs to be firm in implementing forced evacuation and for the public to heed local authorities.

"If they don’t want to evacuate, we have to forcibly take them out of their homes. Our authorities should be firm on this one," he stressed.

Meanwhile, with the resumption of sea travel, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has continued the delivery of relief support to communities hit by typhoon "Pepito," particularly in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas or hard-to-reach areas.

Disaster Response Management Group Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said this development ramped up aid delivery to the island province of Catanduanes, which is among the localities battered by "Pepito."

“Based on the latest report from our DSWD Field Office (FO) 5 — Bicol Region, the island province of Catanduanes is now safe to reach via water vessels kaya nag-dispatch na agad tayo ng 5,100 FFPs doon,” Dumlao, the agency’s spokesperson, said on Tuesday (19 November).

In addition to the trucks transporting the family food packs, the water vessel also transported the DSWD FO-5’s Mobile Command Center.