Disasters

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo has ordered state pension funds to defer collecting loan repayments from its distressed members to allow them as well as the economy to recover from the devastation caused by tropical storm “Ondoy” by freeing up money for consumer spending.

THE Social Security System yesterday cut the interest rate on home repair loans to 9 percent from 13 to help members whose homes were damaged by tropical storm Ondoy.

“Life is a game of chess, wrote Benjamin Franklin. Chess is life, according to Bobby Fischer. Just apply the lessons with love, patience and understanding. And passion. The whole world is the chessboard, the space that holds the chessmen, each an independent piece, but collectively interlinked in all they do. Like in real life, the…

This is how disaster management in our country has progressed through the years. Commonwealth toPost-Commonwealth Era During the Commonwealth days, two (2) executive orders were issued by the late President Manuel L. Quezon, namely, Executive Order 335 and 337. Executive Order 335 created the Civilian Emergency Administration (CEA), which was tasked primarily through the National…

MANY sections of the citizenry and media, including this paper, have expressed dissatisfaction with the way the government has handled the latest, and most devastating, physical disaster Metro Manila and its environs have suffered in 40 or more years.

State-run Social Security System (SSS) cut down the interest rates of its loan window for home repairs and improvements from 13 percent to 9 percent to help members affected by tropical storm Ondoy.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is set to adopt a package of relief measures for banks to enable them to extend assistance to bank customers adversely affected by tropical storm “Ondoy.”

MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo ordered yesterday that the list of basic commodities placed under price control be expanded to ensure that all residents affected by tropical storm “Ondoy” would be protected from profiteers.

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.

Apparently, if government heeded the findings of a study done 32 years ago, people shouldn’t even be living in those deadly subdivisions in Marikina. Felino Palafox Jr., a leading Filipino environmental planner, told Business Mirror and ANC that government had been warned about the serious consequences of allowing residential subdivisions in those places that experienced…

The House of Representatives has approved a joint resolution with the Senate mandating all government financial institutions, including the Pag-Ibig Fund, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS) to suspend for at least three months the payment of loans and interest payments in the wake of the deluge caused by…

State-run Social Security System (SSS) said Thursday it was offering early renewal of loans to its qualified members as assistance to those who were affected by tropical storm Ondoy.

MORE than a million state workers may now receive the remaining half of their 13th-month pay following the government’s release of P11 billion for those affected by tropical storm Ondoy, an official said yesterday.

Floodwaters have barely subsided in the eastern part of the metropolis and nearby localities but a garbage crisis already waits around the corner.

MANILA, Philippines – In an effort to help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families cope with the after effects of “Ondoy,” the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) is now extending interest-free calamity loans.

Those who complained that the government did not act fast enough to the floods due to Ondoy are either being captious or deliberately unfair. It’s odious to make comparisons but by most of the standards of disaster management, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) performed creditably.

Last Monday I wrote about how utterly unprepared we all were in dealing with major disasters and catastrophes. Our years of experience with other disasters—and we have had our ample share of them from super typhoons to earthquakes and other acts of god— have not made us any wiser.

STATE-RUN pension funds yesterday said they would make billions of pesos available as emergency loans to the victims of storm Ondoy.

The economy may grow slightly slower than forecast this year after storm Ondoy caused flooding and damaged homes and crops, Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said yesterday.

MANILA – The damage brought by tropical storm Ondoy (international code name Ketsana) ruined the lives and homes of thousands of Filipinos in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces.

LEGAZPI CITY , Philippines  – Albay Gov. Joey Salceda yesterday proposed an P86-billion economic perk-up package to ward off the social and economic damage brought by tropical storm “Ondoy” to the National Capital Region (NCR) and 27 provinces in the country.

In whatever emergency, the first mission of any government is to protect the lives and property of its citizens. But regardless of how prepared government is to provide assistance in an emergency, there will always be inadequacies. With what we saw in the aftermath of Ondoy, it is obvious that the local governments, down to…

It was a case of too much rain too soon. In just 15 hours, some 411 millimeters of rain fell, exceeding the September average of 391 millimeters, and beating the weather bureau’s one-day record of 331 millimeters set in 1967 (Manila Standard Today, Sept. 28).

THE government has imposed a price freeze on basic commodities in Metro Manila and 24 other areas under a state of calamity in the wake of storm Ondoy.

State-run pension funds and a government financial institution announced on Monday that they were planning to extend calamity loans to their members who were affected by tropical storm Ondoy.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) set yesterday price ceilings on basic commodities to prevent unscrupulous traders from raising prices in the wake of the devastation caused by tropical storm “Ondoy.” “The prices of goods today must be the same as last week’s. This is effective in all the areas under…

MALDIVES – The Philippines ranked 8th among countries in the world with the most number of casualties due to tropical cyclones and other major disasters last year, according to the 2008 General Assessment Report (GAR) that the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) will launch in Manila next month.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The rampant growth of urban slums in the Philippines and around the world as well as weather extremes linked to climate change have sharply increased the risks from “megadisasters” such as devastating floods and cyclones, a United Nations report said yesterday.

Congress has earmarked a supplemental budget of P8 billion for the rehabilitation of communities in Panay and Negros islands that were devastated by typhoon Frank on June 20 last year.

TACLOBAN CITY – Thirty-three students from Guinsaugon in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte who were orphaned by the landslide that destroyed their village in 2006 have graduated from high school.