|
By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
The damage caused by Typhoon Frank nationwide
could reach P4.27 billion, officials of the National Disaster
Coordinating Council reported Tuesday.
The agency’s executive director, Glenn Rabonza,
said damages to agriculture and fisheries may reach P3.3 billion,
infrastructure at P750 million, schools at P212 million, and fishing
boats at P110 million.
Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras
said during a presentation in Malacañang that damages to crops
totaled almost P1 billion—P670 million in rice, P165 million in
corn, and P194 million in high-value crops.
Damage to fisheries reached P2.2 billion after
some 25,000 metric tons of bangus (milkfish) and some 5,000 metric
tons of shrimp were lost to the typhoon, he said.
Department of Public Works and Highways
Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said P750-million worth of damages
to infrastructure includes roads and bridges.
The damage to school buildings and other
facilities is also huge, the Education department said. Secretary
Jesli Lapus said the total cost or partial damage to public schools
was about P212 million.
Lapus said 351 schools were damaged by the
typhoon, while some 140 others are being used as evacuation centers.
The Department of Energy said at least six power
lines have yet to be restored in Luzon, while power has yet to be
restored to 50 percent of Panay Island in Western Visayas.
Energy officials said power has also started to
normalize in Bicol, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol and Negros. But parts of
Tayabas, Kalayaan, Famy, Gumaca and Atimonan—all in Quezon
province—are still without electricity.
Despite the devastation, however, Socioeconomic
Planning Secretary Augusto Santos expressed confidence that the
damages would not have a significant impact on the country’s
economic growth forecast.
“We still have to get the extent of the damage
of the typhoon. But it will not have a big impact on the economic
growth this year. Preliminary figures state that the impact will not
be adverse,” he said.
The government’s full-year economic growth
target is 5.7 to 6.5 percent.
Typhoon Frank battered Metro Manila, the Visayas,
and Southern Luzon over the weekend, leaving nearly 600 people dead
or missing. The hardest hit was Iloilo province, where areas remain
flooded Tuesday.
President Arroyo was supposed to preside over
the meeting of the National Disaster Coordinating Council on Tuesday
in Malacañang through video conference from Washington, D.C., but
was unavailable because of a dinner engagement and several meetings.
She is scheduled to preside over another
disaster council meeting at 1 a.m. today.
|
