by Shaine Mae Nagtalon
MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL (PIA)—Department of National Defense (DND) OIC Usec. Jose Calingasan Faustino Jr. and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator Usec. Raymundo B. Ferrer, along with Misamis Occidental Governor Henry S. Oaminal, did a damage assessment and briefing on how bad the flooding was in the province.
During the briefing, Faustino told Misamis Occidental that the national government would help. He said, “So we’re coming here to ask our Governor what we can do right away to help, and we’ll get other government agencies involved and meet with them to help.”
Faustino said to convene with the other agencies to help the province in terms of infrastructure assistance from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), agriculture from the Department of Agriculture, cash for work (TUPAD), and Integrated Livelihood Program (Kabuhayan) from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and others.
People whose homes were only partially damaged will get help, and people whose homes were completely destroyed will be looked at again to see if they need to move.
For his part, Gov. Henry S. Oaminal gave the DND and OCD updates on the present condition of Misamis Occidental following the massive flooding that affected nine towns over the weekend.
As to the other needs of the evacuees, Governor Henry Oaminal provided food packs that they can take home if ever they want to go home and cash assistance for their basic needs at home. “We are really doing our best to provide the needs of the people with their satisfaction and to the utmost satisfaction,” he said.
The local governments in the municipalities and cities are backed up by the provincial government on providing food, goods, and other basic needs in the different evacuation centers, and medical needs in the evacuation are also properly addressed.
The MisOcc LGU will do a different assessment for agriculture and properties.
The affected families in the province include towns such as Oroquieta, with 825 families or 6,000 individuals in the evacuation area; Aloran, with 564 families or 1821 individuals; Panaon, with 151 families or 541 individuals; Jimenez, with 1532 families or 6447 individuals; Sincaban, with 303 families or 1247 individuals; and Tudela, with 759 families or 3,380 individuals.
Meanwhile, Clarin had 550 families or 2288 individuals, and Ozamiz had 45 families or 142 individuals. Lopez Jaena: 421 families or 1757 individuals; Plaridel: 182 families or 728 individuals; and lastly, Baliangao: 5 families or 22 individuals.
Gov. Henry S. Oaminal reported that some 5,116 families or 23,937 individuals who are affected are now in the different evacuation centers in the province. As of December 28, five people had died in Aloran, five in Oroquieta, three in Jimenez, one in Tudela, and three in Clarin.
The cabinet secretary praised what the provincial government and the PDRRM Council did to quickly get people out of the area.
The Cabinet secretary also met with the local officials of the province to address their concerns. (SMRN/PIA-10/Misamis Occidental)
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