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Halalan 2022: Presidential hopefuls extend help to typhoon Odette victims

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ABS-CBN News

MANILA (UPDATE)—Some presidential aspirants have begun responding to the needs of those whose lives were upended by typhoon Odette. Sen. Manny Pacquiao sent an initial batch of relief goods to Cebu province and Bohol, including 2 metric tons of &quot;assorted relief items&quot; or some 2,400 kilograms of &quot;complete food packs,&quot; which will be given to Gov. Gwen Garcia.This also included some 479 food packs, as well as more than 300 kg of bottled water from Vice-President Leni Robredo&#x27;s office. &quot;Huwag na muna natin pag-usapan ang pulitika. Huwag muna tayo maging busy sa pangangampanya. Maging busy tayo para mag ambag-ambag. Magtulungan tayo,&quot; Pacquiao said.(Let us not talk about politics. Let us not be busy in our campaign. Let us be busy in helping people.)The boxer-turned-lawmaker said some 5,000 noche buena relief packs would also be distributed to other areas affected by Odette, which are currently being prepared in General Santos City.Robredo, on the other hand, went to Bohol, after being &quot;restless&quot; due to the limits of communication lines, a statement from her office read. Many communication and power lines were cut after the typhoon&#x27;s onslaught. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/16/21/typhoon-odette-makes-5th-landfall-in-bohol">Typhoon Odette makes 5th landfall in Bohol</a></li></ul>“Updates have been hard to come by over the past 24 hours, kaya hindi rin tayo mapakali (I was restless). So we went to assess the situation and bring help,” Robredo said in a Facebook post. The country&#x27;s second highest official said her camp tried going to Loay town, Bohol but the roads there were impassable. Odette made its 5th landfall over President Carlos P. Garcia town, Bohol on Thursday night. Robredo met with Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap, and other local officials there who are part of the province&#x27;s rescue operations. Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, meanwhile, signed a resolution to allot at least P2.5 million for affected residents in Cebu and other places in Visayas and Mindanao. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/18/21/ndrrmc-confirms-4-deaths-due-to-odette">NDRRMC confirms 4 deaths due to &#x27;Odette,&#x27; damage toll being verified</a></li></ul>Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna said their city council approved the resolution earlier in the day through a special session. Of the P2.5 million, a million will be given to Cebu while P500,000 will be allotted each to the provinces of Bohol, Leyte, and Surigao Del Norte.Domagoso also appealed to his supporters to mount a fundraising drive. Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo &quot;Ping&quot; Lacson offered a short silence for the victims of Typhoon Odette during his visit to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). Lacson is one of the key guests for the homecoming of PMA Matatag Class of 1971 on Saturday. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/18/21/iloilo-slowly-recovering-after-odette-onslaught">Iloilo governor says flights resume after Typhoon Odette onslaught</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/18/21/odettes-winds-rains-wreak-havoc-across-visayas-mimaropa">Typhoon Odette leaves areas in S. Luzon, Visayas provinces devastated</a></li></ul>He said politics should be set aside as many Filipinos reel from the impact of Odette.“Let’s forget for a while that I am a presidential aspirant in the May 2022 elections . . . I ask of you a few seconds of silence for all our countrymen who as we speak have been suffering from the devastating impact of typhoon Odette,&quot; he added.The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) earlier in the day said Odette, the country&#x27;s 15th storm this year, has so far killed 4. This was lower than the 12 reported deaths by disaster officials on Friday night. Based on a tally by news service Agence France-Presse, as of 2 p.m., at least 23 people have been killed in the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, with &quot;alarming&quot; reports of destruction on islands that bore the brunt of the storm.More than 300,000 were also preemptively evacuated nationwide.Odette was last spotted 380 kilometers west northwest of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan with maximum sustained winds of up to 155 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 190 kph. It was moving westward at 25 kph, PAGASA said. PAGASA said it expected Odette to continue moving west northwestward over the West Philippine Sea, and may exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Saturday afternoon. — With a report from Agence France-Presse<div>WATCH</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1865916" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Vice-President Leni Robredo went to Bohol, while Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso signed a resolution allotting P2.5 million to help victims.