QUEZON CITY (PIA) — President Ferdinand R. Marcos on Monday, Sept. 30, directed the government’s emergency response frontline agencies to ramp up the preparation and provision of assistance for areas hit by Typhoon Julian (international name: Krathon).
“Thousands of family food packs are now being prepared, healthcare centers are on high alert, and our farmers and fisherfolk are taking steps to safeguard their livelihoods,” Marcos said during the inauguration of the StB Giga Factory in Capas, Tarlac.
The president assured the public the government is closely monitoring the movement of Typhoon Julian as it strengthens while battering northern Luzon.
Office of Civil Defense (OCD) spokesperson, Dir. Edgar Posadas said during an interview on national television, “The main instruction from our president is to strengthen coordination with local government units (LGUs) and offer whatever resources we have.”
Posadas said emergency preparedness and response protocols are being activated in regions affected by Typhoon Julian in regions 1, 2, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
“We are giving the prerogative to regional councils to activate the needed response clusters, but so far, the three regions are placed under Blue Alert, meaning 50 percent additional manpower, mainly technical people, coming from our uniformed services [are made available],” Posadas added.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has assured that there are enough resources, especially food and non-food items, for the regions affected by the typhoon.
It said it continues to preposition family food packs (FFPs) for residents in northern Luzon affected by the typhoon.
In its social media post late afternoon on Monday, DSWD spokesperson and Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Irene Dumlao said it has continued to send additional FFPs to support typhoon-affected local government units.
“Two weeks ago, we were able to send family food packs to Batanes; thus, we prepositioned more than 17,000 [boxes].
“Yan po ay madaling ma-a-access ng ating mga kababayan (the food packs could easily be accessed by the affected residents),” Dumlao said in a separate interview on national radio. (PIA DMD)
