President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ordered government agencies to work around the clock to provide relief to the more than 340,000 people affected by Typhoon “Tino” across several regions in the Visayas and southern Luzon.
“We continue to monitor the impact of Typhoon Tino, which has affected over 340,000 individuals in 1,397 barangays in MIMAROPA, Bicol, Western and Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Caraga, and the Negros Island Region,” he said in a statement read by Palace Press Officer Claire Castro.
More than 175,000 people are temporarily staying in evacuation centers across the affected regions, while Cabinet members are set to visit the hardest-hit provinces to assess the situation and ensure immediate restoration of essential services, the President added.
Meanwhile, Office of Civil Defense spokesperson Junie Castillo assured that the government has sufficient stocks of family food packs and non-food items for evacuees.
As of Tuesday, around 129,700 families, or 387,000 individuals, had been preemptively evacuated from high-risk areas in Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Caraga, he reported.
A total of 362 evacuation centers are currently housing displaced families.
Around 1,400 passengers were stranded in various ports, where response teams provided food and temporary shelter, Castillo noted.
Vice President Sara Duterte announced that the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) Disaster Operations Center has been activated to support and augment the disaster response efforts of local government units (LGUs) following the onslaught of Typhoon Tino, which brought Signal No. 4 over several areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.
In a video statement released yesterday, Duterte urged the public to remain alert and follow official advisories.
“We strongly remind all citizens to remain vigilant and follow the notices and instructions of the relevant authorities. The safety and well-being of everyone remains the primary goal during this time,” she said in Filipino.
In Leyte province, where the typhoon hit hard, the offices of Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez and Tingog Party-list have prepositioned rice and essential relief goods across Tacloban City and seven municipalities to ensure immediate support to affected families.
In a statement on Tuesday, Romualdez said Tingog personnel and volunteers delivered initial stocks to Palo, Tanauan, Tolosa, Sta. Fe, Alang-alang, San Miguel, and Babatngon.
The former Speaker emphasized that “preparedness remains a top priority to protect vulnerable communities, especially in coastal and low-lying barangays.”
“We want every family to be ready and no one left struggling when bad weather comes,” Romualdez said.
Affected families in each municipality will receive noodles, sardines, biscuits, coffee, Energen, and rice, he noted.
Similarly, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) distributed food and non-food items in Bicol, Central Visayas, and CARAGA.
Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD’s Disaster Response and Management Group (DRMG) assured that more relief supplies can be mobilized at a moment’s notice as the need arises.
“If additional help is needed, our food packs and non-food items can be easily accessed because they were already placed in areas that were likely to be hit by Typhoon Tino,” she said.
Aside from food and non-food items, the DSWD also deployed its mobile kitchen to provide hot meals to locally stranded individuals in Matnog Port in Sorsogon province.
As this developed, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) reported that nine Visayas-based electric cooperatives (ECs) are experiencing total power interruption due to the typhoon’s impact.
NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda said the affected ECs in Eastern Visayas are already working to restore power distribution services despite the challenging weather conditions, except in the franchise area of DORELCO (Don Orestes Romualdez), which is based in Tolosa, Leyte.
“The respective cooperatives have assured me that they can handle the restoration process. Actually, last night, I just called their attention to make sure that critical services like hospitals do have generators,” Almeda said.
Likewise, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said it is conducting restoration activities for several transmission facilities affected by Typhoon Tino.
“NGCP has mobilized its line crews and is currently conducting patrols. Simultaneous restoration activities are also being conducted in areas already accessible,” NGCP said in a statement.
NGCP reported that the Maasin-San Isidro 69kV Line was restored on Tuesday afternoon after going offline on Monday evening.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated. Originally posted with the headline “PBBM orders swift recovery efforts for typhoon victims.”
