By Johaira N Didatu
MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur (PIA) — The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) here convened a special meeting to prepare for the impending threat of super typhoon “Betty.”
The meeting discussed the disaster response preparations of its member agencies and established a response cluster to synchronize all moves.
The said cluster focuses on 11 areas, namely, 1) Search, Rescue, and Retrieval headed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the province, 2) Food and non-food headed by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), 3) Logistics by PDRRMO, 4) Emergency telecommunications by the Department of Information and Communication Technology, 5) Health by the Provincial Health Office, 6) Education by the Minister of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education, 7) Law and Order by the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office, 8)Camp coordination and management by PSWDO, 9) Humanitarian Assistance bu Philippine Red Cross, 10) Protection by PSWDO, and 11) Management of Dead and Missing by the Ministry of Interior and Local Government.
PDRRMO Shaminoden Sambitory also reminded the Council members and local DRRMOs about prepositioning of rescue assets, relief food packs, and medical kits, among others.
“In terms of evacuation, ang city government at mga municipal governments ang magde-designate ng kanilang sari-sariling (the city government and municipal governments will designate their respective) evacuation centers. We understand we have temporary evacuation centers but we are starting to encourage our LGUs to have these so-called standard evacuation centers located or situated at safer places,” he said.
103rd Infantry Brigade CMO Officer LtCol. Palawan Miondas assured that the army is ready in case the super typhoon brings severe devastation to the province.
“Meron kaming team na prepared (We have a team that is prepared). We trained a team for disaster response. We have four utility vehicles and other similar vehicles na nakahanda (on standby),” he said.
The army officer also provided the Brigade’s hotline number for faster disaster response.
Meanwhile, Sambitory said the PDRRMO is closely monitoring the weather conditions here in the province.
He also advised Lanao del Sur residents to stay alert and prepared for this weather disturbance. He said they must be updated with advisories from the national government and their local government units, especially the local DRRM offices.
Based on the latest advisory from PAGASA, super typhoon Betty was located 1,035 km East of Central Luzon with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (km/h) near the center and gustiness of up to 230 km/h. It is moving westward at 25 km/h. (JND/PIA Lanao del Sur)
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