E. Visayas storm death toll climbs to 46

TACLOBAN CITY, Dec. 20  -- Death toll from Tropical Storm Urduja has climbed to 46 in Eastern Visayas region Wednesday morning while 49 are still missing, according to initial reports of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC).

Of the total fatalities, 33 are from Biliran, the most devastated province by the slow moving storm that crossed central Philippines last week. Its heavy rains triggered landslides and flooding.

Outside Biliran, storm-related deaths were also reported in Ormoc City, Tacloban City, and Mahaplag in Leyte; Maydolong, Guiuan, Lawaan, and Taft in Eastern Samar; Daram, Pinabacdao, and Sta. Rita towns in Samar.

Lucsoon village in Naval, the capital of Biliran province , has the most number of deaths at 19 due to massive landslide that buried several houses.

Of the 49 missing in the region, 17 are from Lucsoon village.

At least 26 victims succumbed to landslides and 21 died from drowning, the RDRRMC regional report added.

The storm has damaged 4,289 houses and destroyed learning facilities in 535 schools in Eastern Visayas.

Meanwhile, as of Wednesday morning, there are 4,000 food packs received by the provincial government from the Department of Social Welfare and Development .

The shipment is part of the 25,000 food packs committed by the central government when President Rodrigo Duterte visited the typhoon-stricken province on Monday.

Prioritized in the distribution of initial shipments are the towns of Culaba, Caibiran, Cabucgayan, and Almeria. (SQM/PNA)

DSWD- 8 ends accepting ‘Urduja’ damage report

TACLOBAN CITY, Dec. 20  -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development-Region 8 office here will no longer accept damage reports from local government units affected by Tropical Storm “Urduja”.

DSWD disaster response and management unit head Pauline Nadera said they had set December 20 as deadline for the submission of damage reports.

The damage report will serve as a basis for the agency to find out how much is needed to meet the requirements of local governments as it moves on to the second round of relief distribution.

“Our assistance is really dependent on the reports of local government units. We need to know how much budget is needed,” Nadera said.

Nadera said that for the first round, the DSWD distributed food packs to all families in storm-hit areas.

The submitted local damage report will be used as basis as to how many families are qualified for the second round of food assistance from the government.

Aside from relief distribution, the DSWD is also preparing to carry out the early recovery and rehabilitation phase.

Before Urduja’s devastation, DSWD had 98,728 family food packs.

As of December 19, DSWD has released 65,973 family food packs, 127,678 blankets, 46,749 hygiene kits for storm-hit provinces.

The regional office initially shipped 2,700 family food packs to Biliran. Logistical hurdle is a challenge after flood waters cut off bridges connecting Biliran to Leyte province.

The DSWD Eastern Visayas assistance is on top of 15,000 family food packs from the agency’s regional office in Central Visayas.

The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said the storm had displaced 52,428 families in Eastern Visayas region. (RTA/PNA)

Food depots eyed in calamity-prone areas: Piñol

TACLOBAN CITY, Dec. 19  -- President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the National Food Authority (NFA) to set up food supply depots in provinces highly susceptible to natural disasters.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the Chief Executive issued the directive on Monday during a briefing at the Naval State University in Biliran after mayors in the province complained of food supply shortage after the storm.

"The DSWD and NFA should work on that," Piñol said in his Facebook post Tuesday, quoting the President.

The idea of establishing food supply depot in areas frequently hit by natural calamities is not a new idea to Duterte, the agriculture secretary said.

“Long before he agreed to take up the challenge to run for President, he and I already talked about the need to ensure that there is ample food supply in areas often hit by typhoons,” he said.

The official said the idea came in the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas where people resorted to food looting due to shortage.

“Then-Mayor Duterte said there should be the pre-positioning of food in areas identified to be in the path of a typhoon good for at least two weeks to forestall hunger among the people in isolated areas,” Piñol recalled.

Duterte's idea of food supply depots was presented during the APEC Agriculture Minister's Conference in Peru in 2016.

On Monday, the Department of Social Welfare and Development announced the delivery of 15,000 food packs from Cebu and 10,000 food packs from Leyte.

Duterte visited the storm-stricken province late Monday afternoon to check the impact of the storm.

He and his Cabinet promised to mobilize all resources to help one of the country’s smallest provinces recover. (SQM/PNA)

DOE to address fuel overpricing in storm-hit Biliran

TACLOBAN CITY, Dec. 19  -- The Department of Energy (DOE) will look into the reported overpricing of oil products in Biliran province after then-tropical storm “Urduja” damaged roads and bridges leading to the provincial capital.

DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said they have been receiving reports of gasoline price surge in Biliran province in the past few days.

“Because of the difficulty of our officials to get here, we urged local authorities and even social media users to document overpricing and report to us,” Fuentebella said during Monday afternoon’s press briefing at the Naval State University in the provincial capital.

In a Facebook post by Biliran Island, some gasoline stations have already closed Tuesday as oil supply ran out. The price of retail gasoline sold by some houses in Naval town now costs PHP90 to PHP100 per liter.

“Some Naval residents buy gasoline by the gallons from Calubian, Leyte crossing the Biliran Strait,” the FB post said.

Photos of long queues of oil consumers and closed gasoline stations in Biliran have been circulating in social networking sites

Fuentebella said of all fuel suppliers to Biliran, only Chevron in Ormoc City has closed after the storm. Still operating are Petron, Shell and Phoenix Petroleum with depots in nearby Leyte and Cebu provinces.

The DOE official said ship tankers would come to Biliran to avert shortage of petroleum products in the province.

The energy department has been working with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and electric cooperatives to immediately restore power in typhoon-stricken communities, Fuentebella said.

In an advisory issued Monday, the NGCP said power transmission operations in Visayas are back to normal operations as the firm successfully completed the restoration of lines damaged by the storm.

On Tuesday, the Biliran Electric Cooperative (Bileco) said power was restored in 20 villages of Biliran, Cabucgayan and Caibiran towns.

“Please take note that Bileco prioritizes the restoration of power in our backbone lines to serve the district towns in whole area coverage so that vital institutions can operate and provide the needed services to our people,” the power cooperative said in a statement.

Fuentebella reported that the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant in Leyte was also damaged by the storm, consequently reducing its generation capacity from 463 megawatts to 215 megawatts. (SQM/With reports from Maria Fatima Berongoy, OJT/PNA)

DPWH builds detour bridges in Biliran

TACLOBAN CITY, Dec. 19  -- The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has set a 30-day timeline to make the two bridges in Biliran cut off by tropical storm “Urduja” to be passable.

During Monday afternoon’s press briefing at the Naval State University in Biliran’s capital, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said work had started to build detour bridges to make the Caraycaray and Catmon Bridges passable within a month.

“Expect that we are working full time. All DPWH assets are being deployed for immediate repair of damaged infrastructure,” Villar said.

The DPWH secretary said there’s an ongoing clearing operations in several sections of Biliran Circumferential Road to reopen access to the provincial capital. The highway is considered as alternative route to Naval town from Tacloban, the regional capital.

Taking the alternate highway means driving 90 kilometers farther from Biliran town to neighboring Naval town.

Catmon Bridge in Biliran town and Caraycaray Bridge in the capital town of Naval are categorized by DPWH as old bridges built 40 years ago without major rehabilitation activities, said DPWH regional information officer Antonieta Lim.

“The plan is to replace the two bridges with longer and taller structures so it can resist strong currents. The DPWH has yet to come up with budget requirements for these projects,” Lim said in a mobile phone interview.

Aside from Biliran-Naval Road, still impassable as of Tuesday morning is the highway linking Caibiran town to Naval due to landslide, eroded pavement, and badly damaged slope protection.

Villar was in Biliran to inspect collapsed bridges, blocked roads, and ongoing clearing operation in landslide-hit areas.

President Rodrigo Duterte visited the storm-stricken province late Monday afternoon to check the impact of the storm. The Chief Executive and his Cabinet promised to mobilize all resources to help the recovery of one of the country’s smallest provinces. (SQM/With reports from Jeraldyn F. Bagasin OJT/PNA)