PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday, January 24, 2022, he wants to visit again the areas battered by Typhoon Odette to personally see the recovery efforts promised by officials on the ground.

“Not all officers are working on their promise to do a certain act on a certain time, sabi lang oo nang oo pero hindi naman ginagawa (they are saying yes but are not actually working),” he said during his Talk to the People Address aired on Tuesday, January 25.

"So I'd like to go there personally," he added.

He said he also wants to ensure that coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccination in the Odette-hit areas, including in evacuation centers, continues.

Duterte ordered the Philippine Coast Guard to help in ferrying Covid-19 vaccines in the areas affected by Odette.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director and Civil Defense administrator undersecretary Ricardo Jalad said as that of January 24, 339,478 individuals remain in evacuation centers in areas affected by Odette, the strongest typhoon to hit the country in 2021.

A total of eight million individuals or 2.3 million families were affected particularly in the Visayas region.

The Odette death toll was at 406, while 65 remained missing and 1,265 injured.

Jalad said a total of 786,000 family food packs with a total monetary value of about P440 million have been distributed particularly in Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Caraga. (SunStar Philippines)