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Some 598 people are dead or missing after Typhoon Frank roared
through the Philippines, the Red Cross and civil defense said
Monday, dramatically raising the number unaccounted for.
The storm also caused hundreds of millions worth
of damage to infrastructure and crops. But officials were confident
that the agricultural damage will not exacerbate food crisis in the
Philippines.
Landslides, severe flooding and the loss of
dozens of fishing boats left at least 224 dead and 374 missing, the
officials said, mostly in central Philippines, which bore the brunt
of the storm.
The figures, up from just six confirmed missing
on Sunday while the death toll has been slightly lowered, do not
include passengers and crew from a ferry which sank carrying 862
people. At least 32 survivors have been found so far.
More than 200 people were still missing on the
central island of Negros, while 63,000 people are still in
evacuation centers after flash floods and landslides forced them to
flee their homes, the civil defense agency said.
Several areas were placed under a state of
calamity: Paombong and Obando in Bulacan province; the municipality
of Carigara in Leyte; and the provinces of Albay, Antique and
Iloilo.
Damage to farm crops
The Department of Agriculture on Monday reported
that damage to farm crops has reached nearly P555 million, covering
about 246,441 hectares of land planted to palay (unhusked rice) and
other crops in Western Visayas and 12 other provinces in Luzon and
elsewhere in the Visayas.
Initial reports submitted to Agriculture
Secretary Arthur Yap by the department’s Central Action Center
said that as of Monday, 242,213 hectares of palay fields, 1,064
hectares of corn lands, and 3,164 hectares planted to vegetables and
high-value commercial crops were damaged by the typhoon.
Palay is the most damaged crop, based on the
report, with a total of P448.855-million worth of palay in the
reproductive and vegetative stages destroyed.
Also, P6.28-million worth of corn and
P99.78-million worth of high-value commercial crops were damaged by
the typhoon.
Food supply still secure
The Agriculture department remained positive,
though. It released a statement that said, “The volume of palay
lost, which totaled 17,784 MT [metric tons], had a minimal impact on
the total production goal for the July-September period as it
represented only 0.52 percent of the target of 3.44 million MT for
the wet or main cropping season.”
The Manila Times was not able to ask the real
impact of the storm to the palay production because GMA Rice
National program Coordinator Frisco Malabanan said he has not yet
received the above report.
In Central Luzon, the department’s Region 3
director, Redentor Gatus, considered the rain as “beneficial” as
the rice farmers has just started preparing the land for planting.
Doubled rice distribution
Secretary Yap ordered the National Food
Authority over the weekend to work overtime in distributing rice in
Iloilo and other provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao to ensure the
steady supply of rice to calamity-stricken residents.
Special attention was given to Iloilo, because
Frank was the worst typhoon to hit the province in recent history.
Even the main National Food Authority warehouse in the city was
flooded.
The food agency, Yap said, has the capability to
undertake a “selective bombardment” of rice stocks in areas
where this is necessary because of its sufficient supply of the food
staple in its warehouses.
Damage to infrastructure
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
initially placed at P710 million the damage to infrastructure
brought about by Typhoon Frank. Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said
this is a conservative estimate and does not yet include damages to
other government structures and school buildings.
“Based on reports this morning, there were
eight bridges that were damaged in Panay Island, and there were two
[damaged bridges] in Region 8,” Ebdane told reporters.
Some P100 million was ordered released from the
department’s flood control funds, but acknowledged the agency
needs more immediate funds for stricken areas.
Clearing impassable roads
The Public Works department had reported that
some 11 roads remain impassable to traffic in several regions
because of landslides and flooding. Majority of damaged
infrastructures are situated in regions 6 and 8, the most heavily
hit by Typhoon Frank.
In Central Luzon, the Nueva Ecija-Aurora road
remains impassable because of landslides from kilometer 192 to 194
in Barangay Dipawan, San Luis. Clearing operations are ongoing.
In Region 4-B (Mimaropa), the San Agustin-Sta.
Maria Road in Tablas, Romblon remains impassable because of flash
floods. The Tablas Circumferential Road is also not passable to
traffic.
Western Visayas (Region 6) saw the most damage
worth about P500 million. Six road networks, including the
Sigma-Dao-Cuartero Road, and the Pontevedra-Panitan Road in Capiz;
Sta. Barbara-Cabatuan-Cainog Road, Guimbal-Tubungan Road, Alimodian
Road and Passi-Duenas Road in Iloilo, remain impassable.
In Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), the Palo-Carigara-Ormoc
Road in Leyte is temporarily passable with bailey panels temporarily
installed at the damaged Carigara bridge approach, while the
Libungan-Matag-ob-Palompon and the Sto. Rosario-Villaba Road in
Leyte remains impassable.
Assistance promised
In the United States for a state visit,
President Gloria Arroyo asked for assistance as she presided over a
video conference with the officials of the National Disaster
Coordinating Council and Malacañang early Monday.
The US government has pledged to help conduct
rescue and recovery operations and give almost $100,000 in relief
assistance to those affected.
President Arroyo also called on embassies in
North America, Europe and the Middle East and Asia to open disaster
relief donation accounts, set up websites, and provide mobile phone
numbers where donors could send their assistance. She also directed
the council to open a separate donation account.
Assistance from US
In addition to the American help mentioned
earlier, the US Pacific Command has directed the USNS Stockham,
equipped with search and rescue helicopters, to proceed to Sibuyan
Island to assist with rescue and recovery efforts for the passengers
and crew of the MV Princess of the Stars.
The helicopters will be in position to begin
operations late Monday, said an advisory from the US Embassy. The US
Pacific Command has directed a US Navy P-3 maritime surveillance
aircraft to proceed to Clark International Airport and was expected
to arrive later Monday.
The Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance of the
US Agency for International Development will provide P4-million
worth of essential relief goods through the Philippine National Red
Cross, for immediate distribution in the most severely affected
areas.
-- AFP, Angelo S. Samonte, Jefferson Antiporda, Anthony A. Vargas
and Ira Karen Apanay
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