PBBM issues Proclamation 84 lasting 6 months; ‘Paeng’ death toll at 122
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared a state of calamity in Calabarzon, the Bicol Region, Western Visayas, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the four regions hardest hit by Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng.”
Under Proclamation 84, the state of calamity will remain in force and effect for a period of six months unless earlier lifted by the President.
The declaration of a state of calamity will hasten rescue, recovery, relief, and rehabilitation efforts.
It will also freeze the prices of basic commodities in the areas covered by the proclamation and allow the national government and local government units (LGUs) to tap emergency funds for their rescue, recovery, relief, and rehabilitation measures.
Proclamation No. 84, released on Wednesday, also directed all departments and other concerned government agencies to coordinate with the LGUs to provide or augment the basic services and facilities of affected areas.
The President may include other areas in the declaration of a state of calamity if warranted, taking into consideration the continuing damage assessment in affected areas based on the recommendation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
Tropical Storm Paeng battered different parts of the country from Oct. 26 to 29, killing 122 people and causing widespread damage to houses, crops and roads and bridges.
More than 1.4 million people from Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, and BARMM were adversely affected by the storm.
While the NDRRMC had recommended that the President declare a national state of calamity, he said this was unnecessary because the damage was localized.
In its update on Wednesday, the NDRRMC said 61 deaths were recorded in the BARMM, 28 in Western Visayas, and three in Soccsksargen.
Still under validation are reports of 29 dead – 12 in Calabarzon; five in Eastern Visayas; four in Zamboanga Peninsula; two each in Central Visayas and Mimaropa; one each in Central Luzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, and Cordillera.
Some 103 people were reported injured, while 36 persons were reported missing.
About 927,822 families or 3,180,132 persons were affected by the storm in almost all regions, some of them still housed in evacuation centers.
Damage to infrastructure in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and Soccsksargen was placed at P897 million.
In a media briefing Wednesday afternoon, the Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 178 injuries due to Paeng.
DOH-Epidemiology Bureau Director Alethea de Guzman noted that the injuries included abrasions, lacerations, and puncture wounds.
They also observed respiratory diseases among the storm victims.
The DOH said there was no severe damage to health facilities.
The Department of Agriculture said damage and losses to crops and fisheries have been reported in Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Central Mindanao, and Soccsksargen regions amounting to P2.74 billion.
This affected 74,944 farmers and fishers, with the volume of production loss at 11,831 metric tons (MT) and 82,380 hectares of agricultural land.
Affected commodities include rice, corn, high-value crops, fisheries, livestock, and poultry. Damage has also been incurred in agricultural infrastructure, machinery, and equipment.
In Maguindanao del Norte, President Marcos directed Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan to put up district engineering offices (DEOs) in the BARMM to intensify the implementation of national roads and bridges programs in the region.
Mr. Marcos issued the order in a late afternoon post-disaster assessment meeting in Awang, Maguindanao del Norte, between members of his Cabinet Cluster on disaster risk-reduction and local officials, including BARMM executives.
The Chief Executive told Bonoan to include BARMM in the operational coverage of District Engineering Offices (DEOs) in the aftermath of Paeng, which caused extensive damage to public infrastructure, with many roads and bridges closed to traffic.
Mr. Marcos also directed Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo to beef up prepositioned humanitarian resources in BARMM.
The BARMM has reported that of the 164,581 families (580,416 people) displaced by tropical storm Paeng, only 24,000 remained in evacuation centers, including those in Cotabato City from hardest-hit Datu Odin Sinsuat and Datu Blah Sinsuat towns.
In Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, the Simeon Datumanong Highway has been cut-off by tons of land mass that eroded from an old quarry site at the foot of Mt. Minandar in Barangay Kusiong where retrieval operations continued.