Monday, June 23, 2008 Frank damages P20M worth of crops, properties in north By Jovy S. Taghoy Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Joseph Elvir C. Tubilan of SuperBalita
TYPHOON Frank damaged P20 million worth of agricultural products and houses mostly made of light materials in Cebu’s northern towns.
As mayors of the affected local governments are seeking to declare their areas under a state of calamity, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia will meet this morning with heads of the Cebu Electric Cooperative, Department of Education, National Food Authority, Department of Public Works and Highways and the local officials to discuss all forms of assistance they could give to the affected residents.
Two people also died while four fishermen were reported missing all in Medellin, a town in the northern part of Cebu which has been considered to have been devastated by the typhoon the most.
The Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) 7 also received a report that in Bantayan Island, a mother and her 11-month-old son died after a tree fell on their house.
In Medellin, Epefania Bacolod, 60, and her grandson, Reneboy, 9, and a grade 3 pupil, who resided in Sitio Tak-an, Barangay Kawit, were found dead in a creek some 700 meters away from their house.
Fishermen Virgilio O. Delantes, 45, Allan B. Salinas, 37, Ernesto D. Andales, 45, and Danny Diola, 26, both residents of Barangay Mahawak, Medellin, were also reported missing since 8 a.m., Saturday.
A cemetery near the sea in Barangay Kawit, Medellin, was ruined.
Two caskets were found floating while a body of an unidentified man, who was reported to have been buried about two weeks ago, was also recovered along the seashore by a team of policemen.
The body was brought to Tinggoy Funeral Homes in Bogo City.
OCD 7 Director Minda Morante, together with officials from the Central Command (Centcom), conducted an aerial inspection of the damaged areas in the northern part of Cebu.
On board the presidential airlift wing chopper, Morante examined the towns of Medellin, San Remigio, Daanbantayan, Catmon and Bantayan Island and in Bogo City. The inspection which started at 8 a.m. yesterday lasted until 10:30 a.m.
OCD operations officer Neil Angelo Sanchez, who also went with the inspection team, said judging from the aerial inspection they have done yesterday “roughly 25
percent” of Cebu’s northern towns was damaged by the typhoon.
Although no major infrastructure was torn down by typhoon Frank, it damaged corn and rice fields, bananas and other root crops.
Hundreds of houses were reported to have been destroyed or damaged by the typhoon.
Electric posts were also toppled down causing blackouts in Bogo City and in the towns of Madridejos, San Remigio, Medellin and other areas.
Based on the estimates of Sanchez, the damage has reached about P20 million.
Rep. Benhur Salim-bangon (Cebu, 4th district) will ask President Arroyo to help repair the damaged portions of the Nautical Highway, which is part of the administration projects to boost tourism.
He also plans to realign the P1 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund that was initially intended for his burial program for the poor under the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
He plans to use the funds instead to buy rice and food for his affected constituents.
Yesterday, Garcia and Salimbangon distributed three kilos of rice, canned goods, noodles, mats and medicines to the displaced families.
San Remigio Mayor Mariano Martinez said hundreds of residents were still waiting for relief goods from the provincial government.
Medellin Mayor Ricardo Ramirez, for his part, said they have received already 40 sacks of rice, assorted goods and blankets and mats from the provincial government yesterday.
He said hundreds of families were evacuated while a still unaccounted number of houses were totally wrecked.
Bogo City Mayor Celestino Martinez also said that millions worth of infrastructure and agriculture were damaged in his town due to the typhoon.
Martinez said that six coastal barangays were submerged due to heavy rains and flashfloods.
An estimated P3 million to P4 million worth of bridges in two villages were also destroyed by flashfloods over the weekend.
Martinez said they received 35 sacks of rice, including canned goods, from the Provincial Government yesterday.
Electricity was also restored in some portions of the town yesterday afternoon, he said.
In sitios Malocbaloc and Bantigue of Barangay Agujo, Daanbantayan, 30 families were left homeless while in the town’s barangays Bitoon and Paypay, 35 houses were
torn down by the typhoon.
A flashflood also hit Barangay Bachawan, Daanbantayan, affecting 150 houses. Of the 150 houses, only 30 of these suffered major damage.
In Madridejos, “2,000 houses were damaged while another 4,000 houses were slightly damaged” and 99 percent of poultry houses were also destroyed.
In San Remigio, more than 100 houses were damaged while three classrooms were also partially damaged because of a fallen tree.
Anchored pumpboats in several coastal towns were wrecked by the typhoon.
Crew members of APO L3005, a barge of cement firm Apo, were also forced to abandon ship after getting stranded off the waters of Sherlock Beach, Barangay Tungkop, Minglanilla, Cebu at 11 a.m. last Saturday. No casualty was reported. The barge was bound for the City of Naga.
According to the report submitted by Cebu Provincial Coordinator Estrellita C. Escañan to the OCD 7, thousands of poultry were also killed.
