LINGAYEN—The director of the Office of Civil Defense-Region 1 has lauded the disaster response capability of this province’s Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, saying the people are “very resilient.”
Regional Director Melchito Castro, who led an aerial inspection to assess the damage wrought by Typhoon ‘Lando’ on the province, said the immediate implementation of rapid damage assessment and needs analysis by the Pangasinan PDRRMC helped a lot to prevent further damage in hard-hit, low-lying barangays in towns situated in the western and central parts of the province.
Castro, who was interviewed at the Tactical Operations Center of the provincial council, commended the series of rescue operations conducted by the province.
“They were able to perform their duties to respond to the people’s needs,” Castro said.
Based on the aerial assessment of the OCD, the towns of Mangatarem and Calasiao, including towns of Mabini and Agno in the first district, sustained serious damage from the typhoon’s wrath.
Castro added that the assessment of OCD will serve as basis for the augmentation of relief and rehabilitation assistance to the province which will come from the national government.
As of Thursday, a total of 10,850 family packs of relief goods have been distributed by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office as augmentation of relief assistance to residents sheltered temporarily in evacuation centers in the province.
Meanwhile, in an emergency session held Wednesday, the provincial board led by Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Z. Calimlim, Jr. approved Provincial Resolution No. 525-2015 declaring a “state of calamity in the entire province.”
The state of calamity is intended to start the rehabilitation of the ‘vast damages’ caused by typhoon Lando and to augment the relief operations in the province to alleviate the plight of those affected by the typhoon.