QUEZON CITY (PIA) — Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Wednesday, Nov. 13, praised the regional governments in northern Luzon for their swift action on the call for preemptive evacuation to brace residents against the onslaught of Typhoon Nika (Toraji), saving the lives of residents.
In an interview on PTV 4’s Mike Abe Live program on Wednesday, Nov. 13, Sec. Jonvic Remulla said that had the local governments of Regions 1, 2, and the Cordillera Autonomous Region failed to implement the preventive evacuation order, many lives would have been lost.
“Mabuti at napilit ng regional LGUs na sumama ang mga tao, kung hindi baka aabutin ng isang daan ang namatay,” DILG’s Remulla said.
Last Sunday, Nov. 10, Sec. Jonvic Remulla ordered all local government units threatened by Nika to implement mandatory evacuation.
For heeding the order, the three regions have a zero-casualty report in Nika’s aftermath, and the people were safe in evacuation centers.
In an interview Tuesday, Nov. 12, aired over PTV 4’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon program, the Office of Civil Defense-CAR Director Albert Mogol said in preparation for the feared impact of Storm Ofel (Usagi), preemptive evacuation of a few who have returned to their homes after Nika will be implemented.
He added that due to Ofel’s threat, the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council – CAR has advised against allowing evacuees to return to their homes yet.
However, he said that “the ultimate decision falls on the shoulders of LGUs because they know the situation on the ground better than anyone.”
Mogol said that as of Tuesday, OCD-CAR continued serving 812 families, or 2,008 individuals, in the region’s 75 evacuation centers, as well as 547 families, or 1,862 individuals, outside shelters staying with their relatives and friends.
He said that 10,000 family food packs (FFPs) from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) were on the way, and the delivery of an additional 35,000 food packs will follow ahead of the feared onslaught of Ofel.
In its 11 a.m. weather advisory, state weather bureau PAGASA said that Ofel was spotted 485 km east-northeast of Daet, Camarines Norte, or 610 km east of Infanta, Quezon, packing maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 150 kph, moving on its west-northwestward path at 20 kph. (PIA DMD)
