Help coming, Marcos Jr. assures Bicol, other areas hit by Kristine

Rescuers assist residents as they evacuate to safer grounds in Barangay Nagas, Tiwi, Albay, on October 22, 2024. The local government of Tiwi advised residents in flood-prone areas to evacuate immediately after PAGASA issued a red rainfall warning for Northern Samar, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Camarines Sur, and Albay, where serious flooding is likely expected in low-lying areas. Photo: Tiwi LGU

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Wednesday assured the public that government is moving to rescue citizens affected by the unprecedented flooding caused by Tropical Storm Kristine in the Bicol region.

Residents in Bicol — including former Vice President Leni Robredo, who is based in Naga City — issued an urgent plea for more rubber boats and rescue trucks, as floods inundated many parts of Camarines Sur and nearby provinces, forcing people to the roofs of their houses.

“As soon as makapasok kami, we will be doing that. And we are now beginning to marshal our assets, like for example, rubber boats. Hanggang Mindanao kukunin na muna namin at dadalhin namin dito sa area ng pangangailangan (We will get even the boats in Mindanao for use in areas in need),” Marcos Jr. told reporters at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo.

READ: Intense rains forecast to persist in flood-hit Bicol as Kristine threatens northern Luzon

He said, citing government reports, that flooding is worse in Camarines Sur because it is in a basin, making it susceptible to floods.

Marcos Jr. said government aid will be coming in by land as soon as the roads are cleared.

“Alam naman ng [Department of Public Works and Highways] ang gagawin nila. Naka-monitor naman sila. Nandoon naman ang mga tao nila, may regional offices… So, that’s what we are waiting for now,” he said.

(The DPWH knows what it has to do. They are monitoring and they have people there, as well as regional offices)

READ: Palace suspends classes, gov’t work in Luzon on Oct. 23 due to ‘Kristine’

AFP TAPPING EDCA SITES, US COUNTERPARTS

Marcos Jr ALSO ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to make full use of Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites in various areas in the Philippines for the government’s disaster response.

AFP chief Romeo Brawner Jr. said the armed forces have already coordinated with US counterparts who said they are ready to help.

“In terms of airlift capability, we have already alerted most of our aircraft, but yesterday we also coordinated with our US counterparts, and they are ready to send in their aircraft using our EDCA sites,” Brawner said. 

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr noted that the Philippine government is already coordinating with Southeast Asian neighbors such as Singapore “to marshal their capabilities for airlift and other manpower assistance that they can pitch in.”

He added the plans to talk to "traditional partners" in anticipation of the need for assistance in airlift and rescue efforts.

“We have to establish first the protocols before the actual deployment of military assets. With Singapore, I already talked to Ambassador (Constance) See, and then we are reaching out to Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia as the closest neighbors, in addition to partner nations,” Teodoro Jr said.

“This is where we make full use of the EDCA sites especially for the activities ng AFP, pag-airlift,” Marcos Jr replied.

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DSWD: FOOD AID ALREADY BEING DISTRIBUTED

The Department of Social Welfare and Development assured Marcos Jr. and the public that it has enough family food packs prepositioned in the region to augment local government relief efforts.

Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said regions have “very high stockpiles” of aid to help residents affected by the storm.

“So, as of yesterday, we started distributing already and we continue to distribute. Now we are already in the replenishment stage. Our Pasay hub is running 20,000 FFPs a day, so that when the stockpiles [in affected regions] go down, we can keep on sending them [new batches],” he also said.

DSWD will also work with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to help provide more than 100 water filtration kits to the Bicol region.

Each kit filter out bacteria and provide clean water for around 100 people a day.

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