WITH President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo still of official visit in the United States, National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) chair Roilo Golez is hands-on with massive relief assistance for the victims in Western Visayas, which have been hit hard by the recent typhoon frank.
Golez said the different line Agencies of government are fully mobilized with the Philippine Armed Forces, the Philippine National Police and the US Navy Forces in distributing relief assistance to alleviate thousands of families who lost their homes as a result of typhoon “Frank”.
Tons of ready to eat foods, clothings, bottled drinking water and medicines have been flown in via series of C-130 flights to Ilo-Ilo, Aklan, Kalibo, Roxas and other areas in Western Visayas.
Executive Secretary Ermita also said that the US Navy’s USS Reagan is also on hand in the ground as well as an the for the search, rescue and retrieval operations of victims of the ill-fated Princess of the Star.
Ermita pressed that Arroyo, while on Official Mission for the country in the United States continues to be hands-on in monitoring and giving orders ensuring relentless day to day relief operations in all areas in the country that was hard hit by the typhoon.
The President has ordered the fast rehabilitation of all infrastructures in all areas of the country particularly in the Western and Eastern Visayas, which were hard hit by the typhoon.
Ermita said the President ordered soft loans of Php 5Million pesos to be released to Electric power cooperatives to immediately rehabilitate respective power systems in the Ilo-Ilo and Aklan provinces of which power systems were destroyed. The loans were provided thru Secretary Reyes of the Energy Department.
He said the NDCC have solicited several units of water purification system and were flown to the Ilo-Ilo, Aklan, Kalibo, Roxas, Panay island to provide potable water considering that these areas were totally flooded and potable water is badly needed.
DOTC Sec. Mendoza said that Task Force Princess of the Star, headed by DOTC under Secretary Len Bautista, have employed over hundred divers from the Philippine Navy, PNP with the assistance and the facilities of USS Reagan and are doing a lot of progress in the rescue and retrieval operations of victims of the ill-fated passenger Ferry Princess of the Star. (PIA)
