President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Friday questioned why hundreds of people still died from Typhoon Pablo (international codename: Bopha) despite the government’s disaster preparations.

The President expressed his lament on the big number of casualties in a visit to areas devastated by Pablo, where he assured victims that the government would work hard to find ways to prevent similar results from the disaster that has claimed more than 400 lives in Mindanao.

The official death toll stood at 418 on Friday, while the Agence France-Presse placed it at 514.

“Gusto kong malaman kung bakit nangyari ho itong trahedyang ito. Gusto kong makita rin kung paano natin maiiwasan na magkaroon [ng] ganitong trahedyang ulit [I want to find out why this tragedy happened and how we can keep these tragedies from happening again],” he said.

The President also said that the time is not for talking but for working to ensure that there will be no more casualties every time a disaster strikes.

“Hindi ho ako kuntento. Kailangan talaga habulin natin walang masasalanta tuwing may sasapit nitong ganitong pagkakataon. So hindi ho ito ang oras nang pagsasalita, oras po ng gawa [I am not satisfied. We need to ensure that there are no casualties every time there is a disaster. This is not a time for talk. It is a time to for work],” he added.

The President first visited New Bataan town, Compostela Valley, one of the hardest hit provinces with at least 251 dead. He helped hand out food packs to about 2,000 people in the community and distributed P10,000 each to families who lost loved ones to Pablo,. He assured residents that the government would not stop working to improve their lives and help them recover from the tragedy.

Pablo’s casualties are much less than the 1,257 killed when Typhoon Sendong (International codename: Washi) struck last December, but it has inflicted more damage to properties and has affected more people.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC), on Friday, said that initial figures on damages inflicted by Pablo on infrastructures, agriculture and private properties had already reached P4.001 billion, far bigger than the 1.399-billion caused by Sendong.

NDRRMC chief Executive Director Benito Ramos said that Pablo affected 1,033,0364 families or 5,141, 356 persons in 1,862 barangays, 188 municipalities and 29 cities in 26 provinces, which also already exceeded Sendong’s record of 120,233 families or 1,141,252 persons in 815
villages, 57 towns and eight cities in 13 provinces.

He added that 26 municipalities and four provinces have already been placed under a state of calamity.

They are the provinces of Siquijor, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental and Surigao del Sur and the towns of Magsaysay, Araceli, Roxas, San Vicente, Taytay and El Nido Cagayancillo, all in Palawan; Balci, Kapatagan, Kauswagan, Linamon, Matungano, Pantar, Pantao-Ragat, Salvador, Lanao del Norte; Gilagum, Kinoguitan, Lagonglong, Laguindingan, Libertad, Opol, Talisayan, and the cities of Gingoog and Cagayan de Oro in Misamis Oriental; Lopez Jaenan and Plaridel, Misamis Occidental; and Asuncion and San Isidro in Davao Del Norte.

Ramos said that seven bridges and 12 roads are still not passable, some parts of the provinces of Surigao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Agusan del Sur and del Norte are still experiencing power outages and there is no supply of water in San Francisco and Poblacion Esperenza, Agusan del Sur.

Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, said that Pablo unveiled the vulnerability of affected communities to natural hazards and extreme weather events brought about “mostly by poverty and environmental degradation.”

“We cannot afford recurring disaster losses from typhoons such as Pablo and Sendong in Mindanao. The proper dissemination of geohazard maps to our LGUs, as well as the proper implementation of these, should be done,” she said.

This came as a north route to the coastal municipalities of Boston, Cateel and Baganga in Davao Oriental province is now passable, allowing the delivery of more relief good to the towns earlier rendered isolated by Pablo.

Interior SecretaryManuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd today said that the towns are now accessible via the Bislig-Baganga route

Also acting on the request of Roxas, the Maritime Industry Authority has mobilized ship-owners and banca operators to assist in the relief operations.

Two fishing vessels, Edwin 8 and Zandrei, are now in Mati City and Governor Generoso town, respectively; ready to ship the relief goods to the affected coastal towns, Roxas said that ARashell and Twin also sailed from General Santos City for Mati to help deliver relief goods.

Another vessel, Red is assisting in the search and rescue operations for missing fishermen.

For nearly a week, the 150,000 residents in these coastal towns have been isolated from the rest of the province making it difficult to send much-needed aid such as water, food and medicines.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Friday expressed their condolences to the Filipinos and the Philippine government for the devastation wrought by Pablo

In a message sent to Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, President Archbishop Jose Palma, the Pope said that he “was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and the suffering” caused by the recent typhoon in the Philippines.

Several dioceses are set to conduct second collection in their Masses this Sunday for the victims of Pablo. Among the churches that will hold a second collection are those under the Archdiocese of Manila, Archdiocese of Jaro and the Diocese of Cubao as confirmed by Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco, Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo and Caritas Manila, Executive Director Fr. Anton Pascual.

The UN chief also assured that they will give the necessary assistance to the Philippines Pablo continued to move slowly away from the Philippines. the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (Pagasa) said yesterday.

Pablo was estimated at 540 kilometer west of Ambulong, Batangas province carrying maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometer per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 140kph and is moving north-northwest at 7kph and is expected to be 495km west of Iba, Zambales province or outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Saturday.

No more storm signals are raised but Pagasa still advised fishing boats and other sea vessels not to venture out into the seaboards of northern and central Luzon and the western seaboard of southern Luzon as the Northwest monsoon or Hanging Amihan and an Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) are still affecting the Mindanao area.

While Pablo is no longer a threat, Pagasa said that they are still on the lookout for another cyclone inside the PAR before the year ends. That could be the 17th cyclone for this year that will be locally named as Quinta.

The state weather bureau said that it is also possible that a cyclone may form due to the ITCZ, a series of low-pressure areas.

With reports from AFP, Jing Villamente,  Johanna M. Sampan, Neil Alcober and Anthony Vargas