AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR: Thank you, Mr. President. Good morning, everyone. This is my briefing for the province of Agusan del Sur.

Mr. President, we have 322 barangay in the whole province, and 204 of these barangay were severely affected by the floods. The total number of families affected is 93,391 and the total number of affected individuals is 392,947. Around 53% of the total population of Agusan del Sur was affected by the flood brought about by the shear line and the [unclear] of LPA.

So here is the summary of affected population: Number of cities and municipalities affected are 13 out of 14 and 204 barangay; families affected – 93,391; persons affected – 392,947; families displaced – 6,334; persons displaced – 25,857; and families still at the evacuation centers as of this time, we have 856. And the total number of damaged houses is 170; and partially damaged houses – 2,619, a total of 2,789 houses are either totally or partially destroyed by the floods.

So the estimated cost of damage and properties, houses and infrastructure: On damaged houses, the total estimate is 3,025,000; other structures like government buildings, facilities like barangay office, daycare centers, slope protection, even churches, health center and dams, total to 945,746,000; and the total amount of damaged roads and bridges is 1,049,397,000.

For the estimated cost of damage on agriculture: For crops like rice and corn, a total of 266,321,106; for livestock like chicken, swine, goat, carabao, ducks and geese – 2,339,335; farm machineries – 180,000; and for the high-valued crops like banana, vegetable, etc. – 26,886,510; and for fisheries – 4,088,000. The summary of estimated cost of damage, the total amount, Mr. President, is 2,295,583,2084.

The assistance provided by the provincial government of Agusan del Sur as our means of augmenting the resources of the local government units, as of February 15, that’s yesterday, the provincial government has already extended food packs to 8,899 families with a total of 44,495 individuals from the 25,624 target families province-wide with a total allocation of [unclear] funded through our quick response on LDRR for 2024.

So the needs requested, Mr. President, this is quite long but I will not delve into each detail, but we will be providing you with the summary as soon as we are done with this [unclear].

So the recommendation, Mr. President, the repair and rehabilitation of damaged bridges, bridges and slope protection, riverbank protection, roads and slope protection, the figures are shown on screen.

And I will go to the construction part of our recommendation, Mr. President, the construction of 15 more evacuation centers in 13 municipalities and one city in the province of Agusan del Sur. The partial early recovery plan for agriculture and fishery sector for funding for MLGU – 88,696,728; for the provincial local government unit – 11,134,353; from the Department of Agriculture – 11,106,853; and from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources – 1.2 million, or a total of 112,137,936.

So thank you so much, Mr. President, for hearing us and God bless us all.

PBBM: Gov, all right, siguro we can get an assessment. Do we already have an assessment doon sa infrastructure damage, Sec. Manny?

DPWH SEC. BONOAN: Thank you, Mr. President. Our inventory of our damaged facilities along national roads, well, the Maharlika Highway is just minimal and everything has been passable after a few days after the inundation. But there are road catch and erosion that we have to clear. And in Agusan del Sur, I think, there is one bridge that has been partially damaged. But this was passable actually but it needs rehabilitation afterward, Mr. President. But in the meantime, it is still passable, Mr. President.

PBBM: As long as it is passable so that we can provide the assistance that’s needed. Nakita ko rito sa listahan ninyo, mahabang listahan ng gamot that is being requested. How are we providing that to those who need it?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Yes, Mr. President, we already provided the release of our quick release funds from central office which we are downloading to Caraga. The regional office has already provided some of the medicine, some of them are for the wash, water and sanitation and hygiene. We provided already a bladder for water. And we also provided aqua tabs because we detected coliforms in the water source, so we trying to avoid any outbreak in water-borne diseases.

Karamihan po, Mr. President, ng mga sakit iyong sa cough and colds or acute respiratory infections in our evacuation centers. Although mayroon din tayong mga skin diseases, so we’re providing the medicine for this.

We’ve allocated in our quick release fund as much as 42 million pesos, available to Caraga. In the meantime, we’re using the funds of Caraga Regional Office. And the Governor has provided us a very nice land for our [unclear] our public health office. So they are very well coordinated and I’m told the Governor is very much health-oriented so nakatutok kami sa evacuation centers. I just discovered, damaged pala iyong ibang bahay so they will stay longer in the evacuation.

Usually po kasi, Mr. President, kapag baha, kapag nag-recede iyan, bumabalik kaagad sila sa mga bahay nila. So nawawala iyong problem sa displacement, [unclear] public health issues of displacement.

PBBM: That’s another thing. How do we get it to the people that need the medicines? Iyon ang kailangan nating ano—I guess we leave it to the LGUs. Kayo na muna ang bahala basta we supply what we can, what we have. Because alam naman ninyo kung sino ang nangangailangan, where they are to be found so that … as usual, it always ends up, the last mile is always LGU, that’s always the … that the part that is, actually the most important really. Kasi provide lang kami nang provide ng relief goods, ng gamot, ng supplies, etc. But you have to be the ones to assess dahil mas alam ninyo ang nangyayari sa lugar ninyo kaysa sa kahit sino. So we will depend upon the LGUs as we always do.

Okay, Sec. Rex, what our house situation in terms of the—

DSWD SEC. GATCHALIAN: We’ve already released sa buong region since the rain started a hundred seventeen thousand family foods packs, of which the greater part went to Agusan del Sur, 91,000, because of the declaration of the state of calamity. Pero on top of that, as the normal standard operating procedure, we’ve already started engaging the local leaders on the emergency cash transfer. We can use the emergency cash transfer for Agusan del Sur because of your declaration of state of calamity. I’m not sure about the other provinces lang if they still need it kasi wala silang declaration of state of—oh, sumenyas na si Gov. Angel, okay na raw siya. So doon kami kay Gov Santi, kina Cong. Eddiebong and Cong. Alfel. We’ve already discussed how many families. And indicative is around 93 million pesos for around 18,000 families who will get the emergency cash transfer.

PBBM: All right. There is a… one of the items here is drinking water ulit. We’re back to that problem again. Is there a problem sa supply of drinking water?

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Actually, those areas where I went to, Mr. President, last week together with my staff, wala po akong nakikitang source of water doon so it’s very ironic that these people are submerged in water but they are suffering from thirst because due to lack of supply of water. So, our local mayors are also trying to provide the water, drinkable water through their different means that they have and the provincial government is augmenting.

And we are very happy, Mr. President, that the DSWD immediately acted – they provided us with all those things needed by the people. But the sustainability, Mr. President, is the problem. Like for example, the number of houses being counted as totally damaged… I, myself, Mr. President, cannot be certain that that is the accurate number. When I was there, we could not see houses build on land because even the roof you cannot see it anymore – it’s already flooded.

Ganoon po kalalim iyong tubig, Mr. President, ganoon katas. The only houses that we saw in the area are those houses that are built as floating houses. Even in the different school buildings, Mr. President, I was there myself – ang makikita mo na lang doon sa eskuwelahan, Mr. President, iyong flag na lang po ng Pilipinas; iyong pole hindi mo na makikita.

PBBM: Wala na iyong bubong…

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Yes, Mr. President. So, ganoon po kalala. But mayroon din pong mga tulong na dumating, Mr. President, galing sa Office of Civil Defense. Kahapon lang po nagbigay sila dito ng dalawang napakalaking trucks loaded with non-food items and that was to complement what the good DSWD Secretary has provided us with, iyong mga food packs over and above the food items that we, at the provincial government provided them with.

PBBM: Is what we have now, is it enough?

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: No, Mr. President, because hindi pa namin nabigyan ang lahat.

PBBM: Well, the problem here is that the… ongoing pa rin ito eh. You can see the weather outside, ongoing pa rin ito so we cannot put a final number on anything. Pero lahat na ng lugar, lahat na ng barangay puwede nang pasukin o hindi pa?

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Some barangays puwede nang pasukin by land.

PBBM: [Overlapping voices] na-isolate pa?

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Yes, isolated pa, Mr. President.

PBBM: All right. So, we’ll just have to do what we can in the meantime because even the Public Works will have to do the assessment and they cannot do the assessment if the floods are still ongoing. The same thing… actually all of the departments will have to just provide and provide and provide as needed because we do not have a final number yet. But I think we have enough supplies for all of these – ito, food packs, let us start with food packs.

DSWD SEC. GATCHALIAN: Mr. President, yes. In fact we’ve communicated to the local stakeholders na the regional office has enough food packs. We just replenished them again so as they need, they can tell their office, the regional director… we’ll keep on sending. Marami ho tayo noon, Gov., we just replenished the entire warehouse ng region ulit.

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Thank you po. The only problem, Mr. President, is it would take months before the floodwaters will subside to its normal level kasi po ang hina po ng daloy ng tubig sa Agusan River because of siltation.

PBBM: All right. So, you still have the evacuees in the evacuation centers. Mayroon akong nakitang figure dito

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Yeah, mayroon pang mga pamilya na nandoon sa ibang—

PBBM: Pero pabawas na ba, hindi pa?

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Alin po?

PBBM: Pabawas na iyong tao sa evacuation?

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Yes po, pabawas na po – as soon as their houses [overlapping voices]…

PBBM: [Overlapping voices] …aalis na sila.

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Yeah.

PBBM: Pero they still have to be provided the food packs?

DSWD SEC. GATCHALIAN: Yes, sir. What we are doing is working with the LGU. Like you said, Mr. President, sila iyong last mile. They request the food packs in bulk then sila na nagdi-distribute kasi they have the manpower and the knowhow kung nasaan iyong mga taong nangangailangan.

Basta, Mr. President, we assured the local stakeholders that we have enough stocks and if you need more, just tell the regional office – we’ll keep on sending.

PBBM: Okay. All right. Iyong tubig na lang. Ito, balik na naman tayo to the old problem that… how do we provide because as it goes on, magiging impractical to provide bottled water. We’ll continue to provide what we can but we have to have longer term… a more extended solution and what we usually do sa ibang lugar, nagpapadala kami ng purification system na galing pa sa MMDA iyong iba. But that seems to be a practical stopgap measure in terms of [unclear] water supply because as we all know, that’s going to critical.

Sec. Benhur, ano bang sitwasyon at naubos na ba iyong ating purification…?

DILG SEC. ABALOS JR.: Actually, sir, most of them are in Davao right now. Pero tumawag po ako kaninang umaga, mayroon pa naman hong naiwan sa Metro Manila. Puwede pong padala maski mga labinlimang makita. One machine can provide 185 gallons per hour. So, bukas ho padala po natin kaagad…

PBBM: Yeah. But the situation in Davao is beginning to be better so maybe we can use some of those kung hindi na kailangan doon.

DILG SEC. ABALOS JR.: Yes, sir, puwede hong pabawas iyong iba doon at padala po kaagad dito.

PBBM: Yeah. Because right now we’re still in the… certain rescue pa rin iyong sa ibang lugar doon eh. But as soon as it’s available, dito na natin dalhin. So, but again, the LGUs will have to tell us where is the most… the areas that are most in need – iyong mga isolated diyan eh.

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Yes, sir. We have a record.

DILG SEC. ABALOS JR.: Pero, sir, we still have 15 machines in Manila para hindi ko na muna bawasan iyong sa Davao. Padala ko po kaagad dito tomorrow.

PBBM: Iyon ‘yung padala natin kaagad. Tapos ‘pag nalibre iyong mga sa Davao na hindi na kailangan; sabihin nila hindi na kailangan, puwede na nating i-forward dito.

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Yes, sir. Kahapon, sir, may natanggap kaming two purifying machines from OCD over and above the other non-food items that they delivered yesterday – and these are solar powered, sir. At may natanggap din kami galing sa IOM, iyong mga tents – 770 pieces of tents para sa mga partially destroyed houses, puwede nilang gawing bubong, dingding, etcetera. And we already have a plan on where to distribute it dahil may record naman po kami doon.

PBBM: All right. Okay. Sige, so we’ll just keep monitoring basta’t tuluy-tuloy ang ano ninyo… pagka may request kayo basta ibigay ninyo sa amin—

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Yes, sir, thank you very much.

PBBM: —and we will provide what we can at mukhang we have enough. I always worry about water because pagka hindi natin naayos na mabuti iyan, we’ll start getting incidents of cholera o diphtheria o kung anu-ano na. All right, so we want to avoid that.

Okay. Is there anything else, Gov., you want to tell us so that we can attend to it?

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Yea. Mr. President, we are trying our best to meet the needs of our people who are victims of this flood. But our resources are not enough, of course, so we are praying that we will be given assistance kasi matagal pa ‘to, Mr. President. Kahit hindi na uulan ngayon, Mr. President, hanggang March may tubig pa rin iyan. Although iyong number of barangays affected will reduce day-by-day. But those barangays along Agusan River, Mr. President, it takes months.

PBBM: Do we need to do something to make it faster, iyong paglabas ng—

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Pagdaloy ng tubig.

PBBM: Oo.

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: I the solution there, Mr. President, is to dredge Agusan River – from the mouth in Butuan City upstream to Agusan del Sur. But that requires huge amount.

PBBM: Balik tayo sa dredging…

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR.: Kasi, Mr. President, iyong mouth of Agusan River in the Butuan Bay, may nabuong island na doon sa gitna ng ilog because of the siltation.

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR: [Cont]…And the honorable mayor of Butuan is here with us, alam na alam niya iyon talagang kailangan pero hindi lang kaya ng local government unit to dredge it.

PBBM: Very expensive.

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR: Yes, sir.

PBBM: All right. Well, sige that will be…I supposed we’ll just have to wait until we can put together the plan for the river – magdi-dredge ulit tayo. Desiltation talaga is [inaudible] it is the same problem everywhere.

All right. Is that the…are we done with the report?

AGUSAN DEL SUR GOV. CANE JR: Yes, sir, for Agusan, sir.

PBBM: Okay. The next item will be the report from Gov. Angel on the Province of Agusan del Norte.

AGUSAN DEL NORTE GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: Yes. Good morning, Mr. President. Good morning to all of us here. Mr. President, naaawa kasi ako sa Agusan del Sur sila talaga ang pinakagrabe. So, if I will compare my report to their report para talagang naaawa ako talaga sa kanila. But the problem in Agusan del Norte naman, because ‘di ba one river kami lahat so all the water that comes from the Davao Region goes to Agusan del Sur, goes to the municipality of Las Nieves and ends up in Butuan Bay kay Mayor Lagnada po.

So, basically in Agusan del Norte right now, yes what you are seeing there is the one in Las Nieves. We have 21 barangays – 13 are submerged in water; maraming bahay po – one in RTR, but in RTR po na isa I already asked Congressman Dale Corvera kung puwede niya ipasok para matapos na itong problema namin sa barangay na iyan – flood control lang if he can lobby for it kasi he is in Congress. So, if he will be able to do that ang RTR hindi na tayo magkakaproblema but Las Nieves, Mr. President, kinausap ko iyong mayor, sabi ko kailangan na talaga namin bumili ng lupa which we have funds naman po the municipality plus the province para ilipat din namin iyong talagang ‘di ba usual this really happens – so, we really have to relocate them. So, iyon ang pinag-usapan oh namin ngayon and nag-supplemental budget kami for that. So, in areas where we can buy, we really have to transfer already itong mga usual victims of flooding.

PBBM: [inaudible] thinking about in terms of families, households na kailangan [inaudible].

AGUSAN DEL NORTE GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: Okay. Ganito iyon, Mr. President. Kasi hindi natin iyon kaya kasi ‘di ba kasi we’re talking about 4,000 families. So, ang iniisip po namin isa-isahin namin iyong grabe hanggang sa makaya ng pondo namin. Kasi siyempre, Mr. President, pagkabigay ng lupa aayusin iyan para maayos naman tapos bibigyan namin sila ng pampatayo ng bahay nila.

We coordinated with Congressman Joboy Aquino kasi first district po ito na kung puwede isali sa TUPAD iyong habang gumagawa may suweldo sila lalo in the skilled workers ng per pamilya – kung gagawa sila puwede pa ho iyon, so mayroong kita rin sila, sila rin po ang gagawa ng bahay nila. Ang mga materials will come for the LGU and the province. Tapos TUPAD program from Congress – tama ba, hindi ba po iyon puwede?

DSWD SEC. GATCHALIAN: The TUPAD is under DOLE but we can relay to [inaudible].

AGUSAN DEL NORTE GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: Sorry po kay Congressman Joey po ako pumupunta kasi, so he said okay. Kasi if we will be able to build those houses again kapag humupa na get the…hindi ba puwede ho iyon?

DSWD SEC. GATCHALIAN: But we sa DSWD, Mr. President, we have our own cash-for-work which we use in Mindoro for disaster [unclear]…

PBBM: This seems to be a different solution, it’s a much longer-term solution and it’s going to take much more – it’s not just evacuating kasi we have to setup a community; we cannot just build a house – we have to build the infrastructure, the roads, all of these things na that are needed to have a functioning community.

AGUSAN DEL NORTE GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: Pero, Mr. President, talagang ganito na talaga hanggang mawala na tayo sa Pilipinas – ganito talaga in Agusan eh and as long as it will rain these effects will happen.

PBBM: Well, that’s why kapag pinag-uusapan ang climate change – mitigation na lang at saka adaptation and that’s really what we’re going to have to do.

AGUSAN DEL NORTE GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: Yes.

PBB: Marami talagang…well of course all of our…50 percent of our communities are coastal even more – basta’t nasa tabi ng ilog o nasa tabi ng dagat which is the normal way. So, anyway…

AGUSAN DEL NORTE GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: So, the damaged houses, Mr. President, for example in Las Nieves compared naman to Governor Cane we have approximately mga 21 houses damaged talaga – so priority namin po sila. Tapos ang problema lang namin in Las Nieves talaga because Secretary Laurel is here po iyong agriculture – it’s an agricultural area. So, ang laki ng hectarage po namin na naapektuhan – there’s approximately around 584.94 hectares.

Ngayon po, we would want…ako sana if we can help them kasi iyong products natin sa corn, rice, cassava – naaawa po ako sa mga farmers natin na most of them inutang pa nila iyong pangtanim. So, instead na maha-harvest na nila this happened. So, mas priority ko talaga iyong hanapbuhay nila kasi mababaon na ho lalo sila sa utang.

But I’d like to commend, Mr. President, really our national agencies – DSWD promptly helped. Mabilis ho talaga.  Congressman Joboy Aquino’s office po helped right away – ang laki po ng ibinigay po niya especially in Las Nieves; si Congressman Dale Corvera in RTR; the LGU of the province plus the municipality na involved; tapos nagbigay ang Tingog Partylist; nagbigay po ang OCD; and then Ayala Foundation. So, it really helped a lot.

PBBM: Good. I’m glad to hear it. Ano iyong plano mo kapag ililipat iyong mga well ilan ba whatever how many number of houses? The LGU will provide the relocation areas?

AGUSAN DEL NORTE GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: Yes po.

PBBM: Okay pero we will build their houses for them?

AGUSAN DEL NORTE GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: Sorry, Mr. President. Light material lang, Mr. President, kasi kung talaga iyong usual na housing mabuang naman tayo, Mr. President, hindi namin kaya sa province and the LGU but kung light houses lang, light materials lang kaya namin. So, para habang ginagawa nila ang naisip ko kasi, Secretary, was the TUPAD I didn’t realize the cash-for-work. So, habang they’re building it – anyway, materials are provided for them; if they are skilled – so, may kita pa rin sila.

PBBM: Generally speaking, that’s the strategy that we’ve employed—is that kapag ganiyan because iyong [unclear] after a while siyempre food is the most important, water is the most important but after a while may pangangailangan na iyong household na hindi food at saka hindi basic survival supplies so napupunta tayo sa cash-for-work – generally, that makes the rehabilitation – whatever, maglinis sila, mag-ano sila, whatever iyong gagawin nila. So, we can apply that to rebuilding their houses. But again, we depend on the LGU to tell us where it is going to go, what kind of community we’re trying to put together again.

AGUSAN DEL NORTE GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: Mr. President, mayroon pa ho kaming ginawa ni mayor. I told the mayor we have to be very strict especially with the barangay captains [unclear]. If we transfer all these affected families dapat wala nang magtatayo ulit sa area na iniwanans nila or else pabalik-balik iyong problema natin. So, we hold accountable the leaders in the barangay kasi you’re supposed to be there. So, if there will be people who will be building houses again in these areas that are not supposed to be no build zone then you will be accountable – you should not run next election kasi you are not responsible.

PBBM: Anyway…

AGUSAN DEL NORTE GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: Mr. President, sorry that is our…nag-isip na lang kami kung how we will do it kasi perennial talaga ito.

PBBM: Well, we just have to come up with the plan, they will have to guide us but of course the national government is there that is what we do. Kapag the local government has expended all its supplies, done all of the effort that’s when we come in. And so…but this a new kind of rescue in the sense na ililipat na talaga natin and make it a permanent move [unclear] transition.

PBBM: (con’t)We have to think of many things, whenever you move them, what is the transition. Kung sira iyong bahay nila ngayon, saan sila titira habang ginagawa iyong bago nilang lugar. So, it’s  not as simple as kagaya doon sa painting ng Bayanihan na inililipat lang  iyong bahay. We have to really build the community  that will be able to support the locals.

MA. AMANTE- MATBA: Mr. President, because angs lilipatan nila na area is also within their barangay. Hindi naman malayo, kung saan iyong submerged iyong mga bahay nila. So, kumbaga, before we did this, we talked to the people, amenable naman po sila  eh.

PBBM: I don’t think it’s a problem ha. As long as iyong lilipatan nila ganoon din ang sitwasyon, may eskwelahan, malapit sa trabaho, mayroon silang palengke,  it’s the usual thing. But again, that means that we have to build another community. If you have to move the barangay, you have to build all of the support infrastructure for that barangay, the water supply, the roads, the electrical, etcetera. Anyway, we will continue to study that, marami tayong ginagawang ganyan and it really falls under Climate Change,  in the Climate Change assistance. This is the adaptation part to our response to  Climate Change.

MA. AMANTE- MATBA: Mr. President, sorry ha. Iyong sa Department of Agriculture  lang po, kasi ang problema ko ngayon  iyong mga farmers talaga na baka mabaon sila ulti sa utang. I got all their names already. In fact, tsinek namin lahat ng expenses nila ngayong planting season na ito, mas priority ko po talaga sila. Thank you po.

PBBM: Yes, the DA can provide. But at the moment, hindi naman sila makapagtanim. We have to wait until everything subsides. But the assistance in terms of inputs in fertilizer, lahat iyong mga nasira are available. But we have to wait for the weather to improve bago natin puwedeng gamitin iyong mga supplies natin. That’s really put aside for this kind of situation.  Thank you.

All right, thank you Gov. Whose next? Gov.  Pimentel. The report on Surigao Del Sur.

GOV. PIMENTEL: Magandang umaga po, mahal na Presidente. Doon sa LPA po, masyadong kaunti lang naman iyong—minimal lang naman ang damage sa amin. Iyong mga evacuees na 5,207, sa number of persons 24.956, number of families outside evacuation center, mga 10,000 and number of persons outside  evacuation center 43,536.

So, medyo makaya-kaya po namin iyan, hindi kamukha ng Agusan Del Sur. I am more concern ppo iyong rehabilitation ng earthquake na 7.4 magnitude, kasi iyong mga eskuwelahan po namin, sa dami ng aftershocks, naka-10,000 na po kami, may 5.2, 4.8, iyong iba po hindi pa mapasukan. At saka magpapasalamat po kami ng marami sa inyo na sa immediatr action ninyo noong December, dumating po kaagad si Secretary Rex Gatchalian, si Usec. (unclear) at saka si  (unclear)  nagbigay po  kaagad ng 160,000 food packs at saka tig-P3,000 to P5,000 (unclear).

At lastly po nagbigay po si Secretary Rex Gatchalian ng P70 million para sa 5,025 affected na damaged houses, tig P12,510. Maraming-maraming salamatpo. Ang concern ko po  iyong nandiyan naman po iyong DPWH, gumagawa  po naman talaga sila ng trabaho nila, iyong concern ko po, iyong how to maintain ng mga barangay roads namin a 2,000 kilometers, imbes na nagre-repair pa po ako, ito naman ang bagyo, ito na naman ang baha, naubos na po iyong P17 million ko na pang-fuel, hindipa ako natatapos, baka matulungan po ninyo kami diyan sa fuel, kasi hindi ako makahiram ng equipment ng DPWH, kais busy rin sila. May equipment po kami naubusan  lang po kami ng fuel.

At again po, salamat at tumutulong naman s Congressman Johnny saka si Congressman  Momo sa  pag-rehab. Yon po, kasi long-term po ito, lalo na iyong mga far flung barangays  hanggang ngayon putol po ang kalsada. At iyong mga wooden bridges.                     

PBBM: Mayroon ba t6ayong initial assessment ng mga passable and non-passable sa Surigao?

GOV. PIMENTEL: Sa LPA lang po iyan eh, mas concern po ako sa earthquake. Iyong office po ninyo, sabi ko sa gusto ko iyong sa earthquake ayaw lang niyang pumayag, kasi LPA lang daw, nako hindi naman kami masyadong na-damage.      

PBBM: Kahit anong disaster.

GOV. PIMENTEL: Pasensya na po, iyong oras na po na nandiyan na po kayo eh.

PBBM: Let’s move to that muna ha, mayroon ba tayong initial assessment after the, pagtama ng earthquake.

DPWH SEC.BONOAN: Actually, what we have done, Mr. President is actually we have assessed actually iyong mga damaged buildings, mga building po muna, especially iyong mga school buildings and we have an assessment and I think we have already forwarded it, iyong requirements for the rehabilitation of the school buildings po.

PBBM: Oo, patong-patong iyong lindol, tapos iyong sa Davao, dahil may effect iyong lindol nag-loosen iyong lupa, kaya umulan lang bumagsak na.

GOV. PIMENTEL: Malalakas po iyong after shock, may 5.2, 4.8. 10,000 na nga po, kaya nasisira na ang ulo namin eh. Hindi po ba nire-repair, pero dapat mabigyan ng funding at saka iyong eskuwelahan po talaga, kasi palaki ng palaki iyong mga crack. So, hindi ko mapapasukan ng estudyante, baka bumagsak.

PBBM: Well, (unclear) okay, napasama na iyong sa lindol.  Unahin muna natin ito, in terms of evacuees, I think ok na tayo, nakakapag-provide naman tayo ng pangangailangan nila.  All right. So, now, the more long term damage that we have to worry about, iyon na nga, iyong mga kalsada, pati tulay?

GOV. PIMENTEL: Opo. Importante po iyong  sa highway naman, di ba na-check na  po ninyo, Secretary, ginagawan na nila ng paraan. Ang concern ko po doon sa mountain barangays na hindi madaanan ng kalsada at saka iyong mga kahoy po na wooden bridge ay hinuhuli naman ng DENR, saan kami kukuha ng kahoy. Dapat po ma-repair iyan, dapat po mabigyan kami ng kaunting leeway ba, iyong exempted sa DENR iyong paggawa ng wooden bridge. Kasi hinuhuli ng DENR iyong mga kahoy namin, kako hindi naman pambahay iyan, pang-tulay.

PBBM: We will see what we can do, para matapos. Of course we will take note of that, wala iyan sa report, but of course it is important na ang ating mga thoroughfares are very, very important. Iyong prioritization talaga namin, uunahin talaga namin iyong mga isolated para buksan, madala natin ang tulong.

GOV. PIMENTEL: Iyon naman po ang concern ko, iyong upper barangay hindi na sila makababa, wala ng kalsada. Putol pa ang wooden bridge.

PBBM: So,  identified naman natin iyong mga  isolated na barangay, iyon ang uunahin natin, iyong mga daan papunta doon, para makapasok nga tayo doon. And of course iyong susunod na roon, tuluy-tuloy naman ang Public Works na nag-a-assess, tinitingnan, basta’t  medyo mas maganda na ang weather at tapos na ang pagbaha, puwede na sila  talagang, matingnan talaga nila ng mabuti kung ano na iyong naging damage sa kalsada, iyong mga erosion,  iyong mga footings ng tulay, all of  these  things, they will have to access  properly.

PBBM: [CON’T] Tapos, bibigyan tayo ng recommendation kung anong dapat gawin, kung minsan kailangan maglagay ng mas bagong tulay, kailangan lalagyan nating strong protection, lalagyan natin ng drainage, whatever the public works will asses all of that at bibigay sa atin later on once we are able to go properly padala iyong mga engineer nila mapakita talaga kung ano… matignan talaga kung ano iyong naging problema at paano natin aayusin

GOV. PIMENTEL: Maraming salamat po Mister President.

PBBM: Salamat Gov.

Okay, the next title is the OCD with the update of the OCD Regional Director Mazo, she will give us the government response so far to the effects of the Northeast Monsoon.

OCD RD MAZO: Good morning His Excellency, President Marcos Jr. Mister President this are an tasked on the government response to the flooding the region. This consolidated response from the national government and the local government units.

Seventy seven thousand nine hundred seventy (77,970) families or 313,408 persons were provided with different kind of relief assistance it total amount 106 million as of yesterday. But in this morning we just accounted 115 million cost of assistance in total but we expect this to rise because of the incoming assistance Mister President.

The items are us follows; family food pack, medical supplies, family packs NFI other NFIs shelter per kits, tarpaulins, generator set, hygiene kit and other NFI such as [unclear] sleeping kits and blankets etcetera. Because of the needs of requested, we consolidated as a whole for Caraga Region the food items as expressed by the governors these may, in the form of rice, we have initiated OCD has initiated the released of rice Agusan del Sur 530 sacks and Agusan del Norte 500 sacks of rice and there still 3,000 more that we can provide as the LGUs will request. And also bottled water has been already been provided.

And as of yesterday, we forgot to write there, 2 units of water filtration units have been deployed in Santa Jose [unclear] Agusan yesterday. And for the non food items

PBBM:  How much is the [unclear] of the water purification, in other words, how many liters can you purify in one hour?

OCD RD MAZO: That’s only 60 liters because the [unclear] small only 2 yesterday.

PBBM: Sixty liters per?

OCD RD MAZO: Sixty liters per hour.

PBBM: Per hour?

OCD RD MAZO: Yes po. But, we expect more to come from other region, OCD are office are augmenting, so we expecting more water filtration units Mister President.

PBBM: You know we should look in to, actually there is…I’d learned this during Yolanda. There is an actual International Organization that provide water purification and the technology that they gave us, is they only give filter mismo ikaw magpo-provide ng balde, bubutasan mo iyong balde then you put this inside it is…any kind of water, ang demonstration nila kumuha sila noong galing sa kanal na tubig tapos paglabas ininom sabi nila safe. You just have the clean very often, each balde can process, sufficient for 100 people every day.

So maybe we should get that, pamigay  na lang natin, we should start to acquire I’ll give you the name of the…

DSWD SEC. GATCHALIAN: [no microphone] It’s Overlife?

PBBM: Correct!

DSWD SEC. GATCHALIAN:  worked with them Mister President, we used them sa city community driven, I’ll take care of it Mister President.

PBBM: Because that’s a very simple technology eh, all we provide is the bucket, then bubutasan lang para magkasya iyong filter and then kumuha na ng kumuha…you just reload and reload, reload it’s 100 persons per day. It is sufficient for 100 people per day, iyon ang ginamit namin, kasi noong Yolanda walang water purification na machine eh. So, iyon… that’s exactly [unclear]

DSWD SEC. GATCHALIAN: Mister President, we worked with them, I’ll take it on from there.

PBBM: Iyon lang ginagawa that whole organization, that’s all they do.

DSWD SEC. GATCHALIAN: Hindi lang ako naniwala noong una eh.

PBBM: Tapos iiwan na, para hindi na natin, tapos kukunin, iyong mga ano pagkatapos kukunin pa natin, ito iiwan na natin doon ‘di ba.

GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: Mister President, but for the filters po, hindi [unclear] is it difficult to access that filters that they provide?

PBBM: No.

GOV. AMANTE-MATBA: How often do you change these?

PBBM: You don’t have to. You bath wash, you wash it. Kasi it’s …parang, iyong ano dinadaan nila sa very thin membrane iyong parang sa dialysis, iyon ganoon kanipis ang duamadaan lang talaga tubig, nothing else passes. That’s why, there demonstration is get the water from, kahit iyong madumi talaga—may amoy pa nga tubig eh. Yes, go ahead [unclear]

DOH SEC HERBOSA: One of the task of DOH is also water testing, so nagbibigay kami ng mga test kits  sa local government to check for coliforms kaya kung talagang duda pa rin kayo you can test it and then will find out if will affect for you but consumption iyong water na nainom.

PBBM: Iyon ano lang, the only downside to that system is that there no nutrients kasi tanggal talaga lahat, everything except the water, but that’s another, that just as relative this more problem to.

DSWD SEC. GATCHALIAN:  I will talk to them again, Mister President. [unclear] worked with them eh.

PBBM: I think we should be already getting a regular supply, so that when have this disasters happening, siyempre ang immediate iyong bottled water, magdadala tayo ng bottled para  may tubig naman. But, hindi naman puwedeng forever iyong bottled water ‘di ba. So, we have to find another system habang nag-aantay sila ng water system. So maybe like if you going to move your community somewhere iyon na muna ang kanilang gamitin sampu na ganoon whatever it takes ‘di ba, so that they at least source of a fresh water that’s potable.

Okay, please log that, go ahead

OCD RD MAZO: Yes, I may Mister President, those are needs I think the sectoral needs and  I think this also mentioned by the good governors earlier on non-food items, wash item on the farming and livestock, the fishing implement and the school items I think already mentioned. But, on the status there still ongoing assessment on this and how to provide will be coordinating with respective LGUs on their request.

Next, on the assessment evacuation may extend at least a month due to the slow receding of flood waters. Schools are utilized as a evacuation centers due to the inadequate evacuation centers at the LGU level. Water discharge from the upstream from Davao Region contributes to the increasing water level of the Agusan river affecting Butuan City and identified municipalities in the province of Agusan del Norte.

Communities and low lying areas or a long riverbanks are still flooded and insufficient water rescue and life saving assets of LGU, this are our assessment and this we recurring every time, every flooding.

Our recommendations; number one, sustainability of humanitarian relief efforts as also manifested by the governor of Agusan del Sur earlier. Timely provision of the following: agriculture interventions, assistance to the micro, small medium enterprise, shelter assistance, medicines for common illnesses.

Third; is a development of comprehensive flood control measures for Agusan river, that is a river basin approach, not just particular in LGU, so from upstream Davao to downstream in Butuan city. Construction of standard, evacuation centers and last is the immediate repair and rehab of damage infra, such as road and bridges and lifeline services. And that would be all Mister President, daghan salamat

PBBM: Okay. Thank you very much. I think the immediate response, we’re doing all right, that makapag-provide naman iyong DSWD ng immediate assistance. The DILG is also able to provide well in terms of the water systems and other assistance. And DOH is there also to provide the medicines that are needed. So we just … what we need, of course, once again, what we need from the LGUs is that you must tell us what it is you need. Hangga’t maaari, magdadala kami ng dadalhin namin sa inyo. And again, to repeat myself, the last mile is always the …all the way down to the barangay level. So you will have to—in my experience, that’s the best way to do it. You cannot expect the national to go all the way down to the barangay level. Hindi namin alam kung saan pupunta, kung saan iyong talagang ano, ‘di ba. Kasi kung sa report-report lang, it’s not exactly ano. But the governors know, the mayors know exactly what’s going on.

All right. So in terms of the immediate response, I think we are all right. The DA and the public works are in essentially the same position. They have to wait until the event is more or less over para maka-assess sila nang mabuti kung ano talaga ang pangangailangan. The Department of Public Works will look, of course, and we will, as usual, prioritize those thoroughfares that are not passable but are going to the na-isolate na barangay. So iyong may mga na-isolate na barangay, unahin natin iyon.

DA, again, will do the assessment and then we will provide the … we will provide the assistance to the farmers both in terms of cash, one, para mayroon silang gamitin in the meantime. And then when it’s time to plant, then we will be able to provide seedlings to the … para makabawi naman sila because walang ani ngayon eh.

That’s the problem with that. All right, okay. Is there anything else? Any of the other office—yeah, Johnny. Yes, please go ahead.

Q: Mr. President, this is still in connection with the report of Governor Pimentel regarding the earthquake calamity that happened several months ago in Surigao del Sur. There were some damages most specifically in the school buildings. But there is one building, Mr. President, that is very important that was damaged during the earthquake, and this is the PAGASA Building in Hinatuan which houses the doppler radar station. This is the one that monitors typhoons that come to our country. It is not being used now because the building has been damaged. So this is very important, Mr. President, in fact, I was going to talk to Secretary Solidum, sana mabigyan natin ito ng pansin—

PBBM: DOST ang mag-operate niyan ‘di ba. Sila ang nag-o-operate—

Q: Yes, PAGASA, DOST. But I already sent a letter to DOST, until now there is no action. For now, it is not in operation. So importante po ito kasi ito ho ang nagmo-monitor [unclear] is the reference point po. Makikita po ninyo—

PBBM: Did Secretary Solidum give you a reason kung bakit hindi ino-operate?

Q: Dahil the building itself was damaged.

PBBM: I see. So hindi talaga magamit.

Q: …houses the radar doppler. The radar doppler nandoon pa po pero hindi magamit because hindi na ho puwedeng pumasok iyong mga tao doon because nag-crack na nga.

PBBM: So it’s just the building that needs to be rehabilitated?

Q: Opo, opo.

PBBM: Oh, sige.

Q: Mr. President, I think we can structurally assess—

PBBM: Yeah, have a look at it because very important iyan for the forecasting para at least may warning tayo when these things happen, mayroon tayong warning na may parating na heavy rains, low pressure area or whatever. So, yes, we’ll discuss with Dr. Solidum about this.

Q:  Yes, Mr. President, because this is very important because whenever there is a typhoon alert, ito ho iyong ginagawang reference point; ito palagi ang unang nagri-report sa PAGASA. Iyon lang po, Mr. President.

PBBM: Yes, I agree with you, it is very important. In all of these, these disasters, the climate change and everything, the forecast has become more and more and more important. Because ang bagong—hindi ba dati, kapag sinabing may bagyong parating, mayroon tayong three to four days ‘di ba, three to five days, tapos sasabihin level … ang typhoon signal number 2 lang, number 3, kayang-kaya iyan. Ngayon, iba na. And this was like Odette [unclear] was the same … Yolanda actually was the one that started it. Kapag sabi may low pressure area, ano lang iyan, typhoon signal number one or two lang iyan. Within 24 hours, iyong Odette ay naging five. Within 24 hours, and that’s the new phenomenon that we have to face. That’s why forecasting has become even more important than it always was. And that’s why … tama iyong concern mo na kailangan mayroon tayo, kung mayroon talagang doppler radar doon na ginagamit for the forecasting, we should have … that should be operational. Sige, mag-ano tayo—I’m sure kung building lang, mabilis lang siguro nating maayos iyan.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Q: Actually, Mr. President, I have a picture here. If I can show it to you or to Secretary Bonoan later, I have already have the picture of the building itself.

PBBM: The?

Q: The building that houses the doppler radar.

PBBM: Iyong PAGASA facility, oo. Sige, you coordinate together. All right. Thank you for that.

Is there anything else, anybody would like to talk about? All right. Thank you very much. Magandang tanghali na.

 

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