GMA orders govt workers to help relief

President Gloria Arroyo has ordered all government agencies to mobilize their employees to assist in ongoing relief and clean-up efforts in the aftermath of the devastation wrought by tropical storm Ondoy. The death toll from flooding unleashed by Ondoy has risen by more than 30 to 277, the government reported Thursday.

Besides the 277 people confirmed killed, 42 people were still missing, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) reported.

The tropical storm Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana) dumped the heaviest rains in more than 40 years on Manila and neighboring parts of Luzon island on Saturday.

The number of people affected by the storm has climbed to 2.5 million people, the council said, up nearly 300,000 from the previous day’s estimate.

In calling on state workers to pitch in, President Arroyo, according to deputy spokesman Lorelei Fajardo, issued Administrative Order 270 directing heads of departments, bureaus, agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations as well as local government units (LGUs) to allow their employees to take part in the rehabilitation of calamity-stricken areas in coordination with the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

The President signed the order on September 29 and became effective on September 30.

Not a holiday

Fajardo said the President is not declaring non-working holidays because it may jeopardize the relief and clean-up efforts.

“It will be working days for all government employees because we encourage all heads of agencies to concentrate efforts on rehabilitation and help in relief operations,” the administrative order said.

Under the order, employees will go to work but instead of heading for their offices, they will proceed to areas affected by Ondoy or assist volunteers in packing relief goods.

Fajardo said that assignments of the employees are at the discretion of the heads of the offices.
LGUs were given the power to exercise their discretion on whatever arrangements they want in their particular areas.

Evacuees can stay

The Education department, one of the first government arms to come to the aid of Ondoy’s victims by turning school buildings into evacuation centers, also on Thursday was scotching reports that the storm survivors from the cities of Marikina and Pasig in Metro Manila and a number of towns in Rizal province would be kicked out of the temporary shelters when classes resume on Monday.

Its chief, Secretary Jesli Lapus, during an exclusive interview, said that they were yet to discuss the issue with the civil defense agency this weekend.

Department records showed that 16,328 families from three regions, including Metro Manila, were housed as of Thursday in 204 schools there.

Livelihood program

Pitching in, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also on Thursday earmarked P15 million for immediate jobs in Pasig City under the government’s Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program.

The amount brought to P30 million the department’s contribution to the Pasig job program, a joint effort with the Public Works department.

Cities in metropolis

The Pasig City General Hospital in the village of Maybunga remained hardly operable, with the hospital still reeling from floodwaters and with most of its facilities destroyed and medical tools infected.

Inside, children can be seen crying, most of them with ailments caused by the flooding.

Dr. Nadia Sarmiento, the hospital’s chief doctor, said doctors and nurses wearing boots have been trying to make do with equipment available to them.

Mayor Bobby Eusebio of Pasig City called on residents to coordinate with the local government so that help may immediately reach them by calling telephone number 643-0000 or 643-4986.

In Quezon City, the city government has approved the immediate release of the calamity fund that will be used by the city government to assist the storm survivors.

Councilor Ariel Inton said that some 50 villages in Quezon City that were placed under a state of calamity stand to benefit from the calamity fund.

In Mandaluyong City, Mayor Benhur Abalos said that to prevent further incident such as the floods caused by Ondoy in Metro Manila, the local and national government should give more attention to flood-control projects.

Mayor Jospeh Victor Ejercito of neighboring San Juan City appealed for help as 13 of the city’s villages were still submerged in floodwaters as of Thursday.

He said that while relief efforts were underway, it would take time for the city and its residents to recover.

HERO project

Also helping out, the Department of Health (DOH) launched also on Thursday its Health Emergency Relief Operations (HERO) project.

The project, according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd, acknowledges that the challenge to reach all the storm survivors was “too big for the government to address alone. He noted that that there are now 369,000 families, or 2.2 million individuals affected by the calamity.

Health officials said that there are no reports of disease outbreaks yet in the evacuation centers but that some evacuees suffered from minor injuries, respiratory tract infections and diarrhea.

Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde reported that the Health department has distributed assorted drugs and medicines worth P2.1 million.

He said that the supply must be augmented with donations from the public and private sectors to meet the needs of the victims.

Duque appealed to the public to donate specifically antibiotics for children and adults, antipyretics and analgesics, oral rehydration solutions, anti-hypertensive drugs, intravenous fluids, anti-tetanus serum, anti-measles vaccines, multivitamins for children and adults, ferrous sulfate for mothers and chlorine tablets or granules.

According to him, the survivors also need potable water, hygiene kits, portable toilets, green and black trash bags and sterilized breast milk.

All health and medical assistance, he said, must be coordinated with the Health department’s Health Emergency Management Staff at hotlines 711-1001 and 711-1002.

Court initiative

Supreme Court employees also on Thursday reached out to court personnel and other colleagues in the judiciary who fell victims to Ondoy.

The court’s spokesman, lawyer Jose Midas Marquez, said that Supreme Court personnel were assigned to different areas that were directly affected by the typhoon, particularly the cities of Malabon, Pasig, Marikina and Antipolo and the municipalities of Cainta and San Mateo in Rizal province, to distribute relief goods.

Earlier, Chief Justice Reynato Puno authorized release of emergency economic allowances to all employees of the judiciary to help them cope with the emergency situation.

Meanwhile, the executive judges and presiding judges of the courts in the affected areas were directed to report immediately the conditions of their Halls of Justice and to give regular updates to Court Administrator Jose Perez.

They also were given the discretion to decide when normal court sessions will resume unless earlier ordered otherwise by the Court Administrator.

US assistance

In Marikina City, one of the hardest hit by Ondoy, Leslie Bassett, the deputy chief of mission of the US Embassy in the Philippines, also on Thursday led members of the US Navy and the Philippine military in putting up a medical clinic at the Nangka Elementary School there.

“We are focused right now on getting relief to people in need. Thanks to our ongoing and active exchanges with the Armed Forces [of the Philippines], our military doctors can partner immediately with the [Philippine military’s] doctors to provide much needed medical assistance in evacuation centers,” Rebecca Thompson, US Embassy spokesman, said in a text message to The Manila Times.

Thompson made the statement after US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney assured that the US military will stay in the country, including in Sulu province, for humanitarian work despite the recent death of two American soldiers that was caused by a landmine planted on a road in Indanan, Sulu.

Kenney said that besides its initial $100,000 financial assistance to the Philippine National Red Cross, participation in rescue operations and lending of rubber boats, Washington would also pour in $4-million worth of medical supplies for the survivors.

She added that the US government will bring in trucks, forklifts, bulldozers and helicopters that will help clean the debris in the affected areas.

“We expect them to be all ready by the weekend. We will keep you posted,” Kenney said. “We are all in this together. Nobody is immune from this.”

Senate programs

In the Philippine Senate, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri also on Thursday urged the government to provide P1,000 in subsidy for each of the 150,000 poor families whose houses were washed away by Ondoy.

“These families don’t have any bank accounts, savings and even stable jobs. These people are basically the informal settlers with very low income,” Zubiri said.

They can also gain from politicians stopping to spend for their television infomercials, he and fellow senators Miriam Defensor Santiago and Ramon Revilla Jr. said.

“They [politicians] should talk with television stations with which they have contracts. They should instead spend their money for the typhoon victims,” according to Santiago. “A politician who is promoting himself at this situation is scandalous and anomalous,” she added.

Her fellow senator Manuel Villar Jr. said that he has extended help to 68,372 victims as of October 1.

Food packs totaling 63, 932, have been distributed, 4,040 were rescued and 400 victims helped in cleaning operations and 40 trucks have been deployed to areas in need of aid and relief across Metro Manila since Saturday, Villar said in a statement.

People who need relief and assistance, the statement added, can call the 24-hour Tulong Villar Assistance Hotlines: 0905-3316626 and 0917-4226800.

Angelo S. Samonte, Llanesca T. Panti, James Konstantin Galvez, William B. Depasupil, Rommel C. Lontayao And Francis Earl A. Cueto, Manila Times