PRESIDENTIAL Adviser on Political Affairs Francis Tolentino on Sunday, September 16, said 29 people were reported dead during the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut)
Tolentino said 24 of the casualties of Typhoon Ompong were from the Cordillera Administrative Region, four from Nueva Vizcaya, while the other one was from Ilocos Region.
He said fatalities in Cordillera include the family of six whose house in Baguio City was hit by a landslide and a resident of Kalinga who died when a rock fell on him due to a soil erosion.
In Nueva Vizcaya, a family of four, the 36-year-old father and his three kids, in which the two were ages two and eight-month-old, were also killed by a landslide.
The casualty in Ilocos Sur was a man who was hit by a fallen mango tree while clearing debris on the street.
Tolentino said there were 13 people reported missing particularly in Cordillera.
"Ang marami po tayong casualty is Cordillera. Sa Cordillera po as I speak, we are still searching for 13 missing individuals. Areas po ng Itogon, Benguet and Mountain Province and parts of Baguio... Ang confirmed po ngayon na nasawi sa area ay 24 na. Karamihan po dito because of landslides, soil saturation, rainfall," he said.
"We're now ending the search and rescue operations. By tomorrow the rehabilitation should commence. Dapat mare-restore na 'yung power lines, 'yung tubig dito. I already expressed my condolences on your behalf, Mr. President... Halos 29 na po tayo ngayon. Nakikiramay po tayo sa mga nasawi," Tolentino added during a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte during his visit at the typhoon hit areas in Tuguegarao, Cagayan.
In a report, the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD)-Cordillera identified some of the 20 casualties in their area as Shaina Mae Pascua,19; Mririam Behis,58; Grace Ganabe,40; Cynthia Ballingan,17; Lovely Jane Bulakit,11; Jessica Oydoc Glenuar,18; Silvestre Mojica,67; Luke Mojica,18; Kristine Garcia,43; Junjun Bulcio,28; Hope Coti,6; James Bitao; Rollando Baggay,68; Nina Baggay,68; Darvin Minimo, 37; Clyde Minimo, 4; Lanni Beth Minimo Baggay,36 and Kierstinx Mae Minomo,13.
Meanwhile, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) director Ricardo Jalad clarified that no rescuers were killed during rescue operation in a landslide incident in CAR as he earlier reported.
"The two responders that were initially reported as victims are police officers responding to reported landslide. But during the accounting of personnel deployed as response team, all responders, including all Police Officers as members of the team, were all accounted for," the NDRRMC said.
In its update, the NDRRMC said 250,036 persons or 63,769 families were affected in the National Capital Region (NCR), Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and Cordillera.
Of which, the agency said a total of 37,910 families or 148,283 persons sought evacuation on the government evacuation centers or on their nearest relatives.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for its part have distributed over P9 million worth of assistance to the affected population which includes food and non-food items.
It said 4,202 passengers, 619 rolling cargoes, 89 vessels, and 75 motorbancas were recorded to be stranded in various ports in the country since Friday, September 14.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), however, said shipping lines will go back to normal operations as sea venture are already being allowed as the weather gets better.
The NDRRMC said a total of 141 areas in the affected regions has experienced powere outage but 33 of them were already restored while the others are already undergoing full-swing inspection and restoration.
It said of the 25 road sections which were affected by the typhoon, two were already passable while the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) continue the clearing operations on the other areas.
The agency said 79 areas were also reported flooded which is now also being subjected to clearing operations.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) are also now in close coordination with other concerned government agency for the repair of the Tuguegarao airport which was closed after obtaining severe damaged from the typhoon.
Department of National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier said the town of Baggao in Cagayan was the badly-hit area where electric posts, trees were toppled and houses made of light materials were almost washed-out as Ompong made landfall there. (SunStar Philippines)