Main points

Tropical Storm Ketsana

Health Situation Assessment

Health Cluster Response

Critical Constraints

• Several areas have limited access to health services and aid
• Fluidity of evacuation camp situation hinders accurate mapping, assessment, and disease surveillance
• Prolonged high-risk exposure due to retained flood water in many areas is expected

Urgent Needs

• Scaling up access of essential health services to all affected
• Improve case-based disease surveillance for communicable diseases and health and humanitarian service coverage in evacuation centers
• Increase resources aimed at containing the spread of water-borne and vector-borne diseases
• Ensuring a return to functionality of primary care facilities and re-establishment of essential health care activities, including vaccination

Typhoon Parma

Health Situation Assessment

• Rapid needs assessment by UN-GOP team still ongoing.

• The top morbidities based preliminary data from 74 consultations (58 adult, 16 pediatric) in 2 Municipalities affected are: wounds, upper respiratory tract infection, skin infections, hypertension, and others (muscle pains, headache, acute gastroenteritis).

• Php 498M (USD 10.3 M) in damage to 6 hospitals, 1 Regional office, 4 rural health units, and 2 barangay health stations have been reported. Region 1 Medical Center, the main trauma center for the region, reported damages amounting to more than Php 456M (USD 9.5M). Damage to records, pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, OR, ER, DR, blood bank, OPD facilities and equipment amounted to more than PhP 453M (USD 9.4M). Emergency room operations and ward admissions have resumed but serious cases and those requiring surgery are referred to private facilities or to the provincial hospital.

Health Cluster Response

• The United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team, together with representatives from IOM, WFP, WHO, UNFPA, and DOH will conduct a rapid needs assessment of the affected areas in Regions I, III, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
• DOH has deployed 1 medical and 1 assessment team to 6 Evacuation Centers in CAR.
• More than Php 2.72 M (USD 566 679) has been given by DOH in augmented drugs, medicines and supplies.
• UNFPA has distributed 430 hygiene kits to Region III and is doing rapid assessments in Baguio City and the Province of Benguet.

Critical Constraints

• Massive flooding in the affected areas from the collapse of dikes and release of water from major dams in the affected regions is expected to continue early into the coming week.

• Thirty eight (38) municipalities and three (3) in Region I are still flooded as of 10:00 PM, October 11, 2009: 23 and 3 cities in Pangasinan; 9 in La Union, 1 in Ilocos Sur and 5 in Ilocos Norte.

• A total of fifty six (56) road sections and nine (9) bridges were affected which were rendered impassable or hardly passable.

Urgent Needs

• Continued assessment of the health situation in the affected communities and in evacuation centers to determine the most urgent health needs

Source: World Health Organization http://www.wpro.who.int/philippines/home/Sitrep+12.htm

The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading Monday evening a joint resolution authorizing the use of unprogrammed funds for the proposed additional P12 billion calamity fund.

House Joint Resolution (HJR) 48 authorizes the use of unprogrammed funds for “relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and other services in areas affected by natural calamities.”

A total of 179 members of the Lower Chamber voted for the measure, with one congressman — Nueva Ecija Rep. Eduardo Nonato Joson — voting against it.

Explaining his vote, Joson said that the allotment of additional P12 billion calamity fund involves an “illegal transfer of fund.”

Read more .

Value of losses to agriculture and fisheries due to tropical storm ‘Ondoy’ and typhoon ‘Pepeng’ have reached P10.1 billion, according to the latest report from the Department of Agriculture Central Action Center (DACAC).

Initial damages to the rice sector brought about by the two weather disturbances amounted to P8.4 billion or equivalent to 477,736 metric tons (MT) of the staple food. Around 312,366 hectares of rice lands were affected.

DACAC said the initial production losses in rice was 7.38 percent of the national target of 6,478,960 MT for the October-December production.

For the corn sector, affected areas due to Ondoy and Pepeng were recorded at 11,083 hectares, where some 18,467 MT of the crop were damaged amounting to P245 million.

DACAC said the total corn production losses was equivalent to 1.32 percent of the 1,396,394 MT national target for the quarter.

Irrigation facilities, like communal irrigation system, among others, damaged by the two weather disturbances amounted to P1.259 billion.

Production losses on high-value commercial crops reached about P337 million,

On the other hand, the fisheries sector incurred P211 million losses, affecting some 8,356 hectares of fishponds with milkfish (bangus), tilapia, prawn, fish cages and seaweed farms.

Damaged facilities and equipment, such as boats, gillnets, fish traps, squid jiggers, among others, were valued at P3 million.

Total damages on the livestock and poultry sector reached P41 million.

A total of P1.3 million worth of poultry houses, pig pens and other facilities for this sector was destroyed.

Meanwhile, local executives of Cagayan province — Governor Alvaro Antonio, Vice Governor Leonides Fausto — including some 29 provincial agriculturists and DA Regional executive director Andrew Villacorta, held a meeting earlier to discuss the assistance to be given to the farmers affected by the typhoons.

The governor said the provincial government has allocated some P20 million fund for the purchase of needed seedlings and other farm inputs which shall be distributed to small farmers of the province.(PNA- Lilybeth G. Ison)

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today opened Malacanang properties in Baguio City and Ilocos region as evacuation and monitoring centers of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) of Region 1.

In her statement issued this morning, the President said the Mansion House, the presidential residence in the country’s summer capital, would immediately be opened to government employees displaced by typhoon “Pepeng,” in much the same way that Malacañang were earlier opened to victims of typhoon “Ondoy”.

The “Malacanang ti Amianan” in Ilocos was made the temporary office of RDCC Region 1, whose jurisdiction was expanded to include Abra province.

The Vice President cottage, a property owned by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) in Baguio City, was converted by the President as the office of the Baguio City Disaster Coordinating Council (DCC).

The President also obliged officials and cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) to provide assistance to displaced state employees inside Mansion House.

Meanwhile, the President reassured affected residents in Northern and Central Luzon that the government would continue to do its best to help ease their plight even as rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts in other areas nationwide were ongoing.

“Maaasahan ng ating mga kababayang nasalanta ng bagyong ‘Pepeng’ pati na rin ng ‘Ondoy’ ang patuloy na pagtaguyod at pagtulong ng pamahalaan, ng mga kasundaluhan at kapulisan,” she said, adding that she was personally extending the nation’s sympathy and concern for the families heavily affected by typhoon ‘Pepeng.’ (PNA)

Malacanang said on Friday that the “Oplan Sagip Bayan” has received more than P58 million worth of donations in cash and in kind.

At the same time, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said in a media briefing in Malacanang the Oplan Sagip Bayan has sent relief packages containing food and non-food items to 163,476 families in seven evacuation centers.

”The relief goods have to be trucked from Kalayaan Hall in Malacanang Palace, where the Oplan Sagip Bayan is housed, to the evacuation centers. And that responsibility rests squarely on members of the Presidential Security Group,” Remonde said.

According to Remonde, when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directed the Presidential Management Staff to set up Oplan Sagip Bayan, big groups of volunteers immediately came to the Palace to help repack the relief goods. There have been 6,657 volunteers tallied so far.

Remonde said the relief goods packed in Kalayaan Hall originally were intended to benefit just the victims of storm “Ondoy” but unfortunately, typhoon “Pepeng” struck Northern Luzon just a few days ago.

”But I would like to give you this assurance that all concerned government agencies have already swung into action to mitigate the disaster. The Department of National Defense and the Department of Social Welfare and Development have been at it since it was announced by PAGASA that the typhoon would likely wreak havoc in Northern Luzon,” the Press Secretary explained.

National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Chairman and Defense Secretary Teodoro has requested the United States Embassy to authorize a redeployment of US military forces to Northern Luzon to join the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which are already at work there, conducting disaster response operations and extending humanitarian assistance.

According to Remonde, the participants in the RP-US Balikatan military exercises, particularly the US forces, will now render humanitarian assistance to the calamity victims in Northern Luzon.

He said PMS Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr. is now in Pangasinan, monitoring the rescue operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with the support of the US Harpers ferry carrying two Chinook helicopters.

Remonde also said that the Philippine Navy has dispatched five teams — three teams in Pangasinan and two teams in Nueva Ecija. Each team is composed of an officer and 15 enlisted personnel, with a rubber boat with outboard motor for rescue and relief operation and a truck equipped with a chain saw, assorted tools, as well as first aid kits.

”Other AFP and PNP teams have been pre-positioned in vulnerable areas of Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales, La Union, Benguet, Batanes, and Tuguegarao,” he added.

He also noted that five helicopters — three in Nueva Ecija, two in Isabela and one in Baguio City — stand ready to rescue people in distressed situation.

”On relief operations, DSWD has distributed P15.2 million worth of assorted relief goods, in the form of food and non-food items. It has also, on standby, P95 million worth of commodities that may be drawn at a moment’s notice and P11.5 million in additional funds for the purchase of emergency relief supplies,” Remonde said. (PNA)

To view the Department of  Social Welfare and Services’ list of accredited non-government organizations, please click here.

• Your kit should be placed in portable containers located near an exit of your house. This is so you can grab them on your way out of the house in a serious emergency. Do not overload your kit – you may have to carry it long distances to reach safety or shelter.
• Each family member should have their own kit with food, clothing and water. Distribute heavy items between kits.
• Enclose the extra clothing, matches, personal documents, and other items damageable by smoke or water in plastic to protect them. If it’s raining when you have to evacuate, you will appreciate the dry clothes.
• Keep a small flashlight source in the top of your kit, so you can find it quickly in the dark.
• Consider the needs of elderly people as well as those with handicaps or other special needs. For example: for babies, store diapers, washcloth, ointment, bottles and pacifiers, and other special supplies.
• Make copies of important personal/business documents and store them in a safe place. You can also make digital copies of your documents and email them to yourself so you can access them online.
• Discuss what children should do if at school
• Learn how to locate and shut-off (if necessary) power, water, and gas.
• Designate a location for you and your family members to meet if you get separated and the number of an out-of-state relative to call to say everyone is safe. That out-of-state person starts the phone tree to others on your list after learning you are okay.

NDCC or National Coordinating Council released an updates for the anticipation of supertyphoon Pepeng, signed by NDCC Administrator, OCD and Executive Officer, Mr. Glenn J. Rabonza. As of October 2, 2009, 1:00 pm.

• Typhoon Pepeng continues to move west northwest and increases its threat to Isabella-Aurora area.
• Public Storm Warning Signal, (PSWS) is now hoisted over Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Apayao, Kalinga, Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Benguet, La Union, Nueva Viscaya, Quirino, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Southern Quezon, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon and Burias Island.
• Residents in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes under signal no. 2 and signal no. 1 are advised to take all the necessary precautionary measures against possible flashfloods and landslides.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered today local government units (LGUs) in the provinces that will be directly affected by typhoon ‘Pepeng’ to implement forced evacuation in vulnerable areas to prevent further loss of lives and identify temporary shelters for evacuees.

The President issued the order to local government executives of Camarines Norte, Aurora, Northern Quezon, Pollilio Island, Isabela and Cagayan.

At the same time, the President ensured that disaster relief response teams fielded in vulnerable areas are equipped with rubber boats, portable generators, M35 trucks, and life-saving kits.

In between the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) meeting in Cainta this morning, the President stressed to governors of provinces in the path of typhoon Pepeng the importance of preemptive and, if needed, forced evacuation.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said typhoon ‘Pepeng’ is expected to make landfall in Aurora and Isabela by Saturday morning.

As of 11 am today, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Northern Quezon, Aurora, Pollilio Island and Isabela are now under public storm warning signal #2.

The weather bureau said “Pepeng” could develop into a supertyphoon within the next 24 hours. (PND)