MORE food and water supplies donated to the Philippine National Police (PNP) were brought in Wednesday to areas in Bicol region still reeling from the devastation brought about by super typhoon ‘Rolly’ as the number of casualties rose to 25 with 7 missing and 43 reported injured.
PNP chief, General Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan said their Food Bank was activated to provide relief to Bicolanos displaced by the typhoon. As of press time, there are nearly 267,000 residents of Bicol still staying in different evacuation centers in the region.
There are also 1,103 from Calabarzon region; 3,205 from Mimaropa region, 834 from Central Luzon; 338 from Metro Manila; 7,267 from Western Visayas; and 6 from Cordillera region.
The PNP also reported that 365 different infrastructures were damaged or destroyed, 336 of them in Calabarzon; 22 in Region 4-B; and seven in Bicol region.
Of the fatalities, 21 are from Region 5; 3 from Region 4-A; and 1 from Region 4-B. Inured were 39 from Bicol and four from Calabarzon region. The missing include four from Bicol; one from Region 4-B and two from Region 4-A.
PNP spokesman, Colonel Ysmael S. Yu however said there have been no reported incidents of looting across the country although 195 areas including the Albay and Camarines Sur have been rendered without electricity.
In Region 4-B, 184 areas were hit by massive power outage with 12 in Calabarzon. There are 30 barangays in Camarines Norte and some areas of Naga City without electricity to date.
Yu said there were also 83 areas without cell phone communications including the Catanduanes; eight cities and municipalities in Albay; 53 areas in Mimaropa region; three in Cagayan Valley and 27 in Cordillera region.
In Camp Crame, Police Community Affairs and Development Group director, Colonel Eric Noble yesterday said his team distributed food packs, surgical masks, N95 masks and face shields to families in Camalig and Guinobatan, Albay who were severely affected by the typhoon.
Noble said they also turned over to the regional police force a total of 764 rice packs and 2,000 PPEs to help support continuing relief operations in the region.
Apart from rescue and relief operations, police are also largely involved in the clearing of highways and major thoroughfares of debris and other litter.
“These operations are all set to allow smooth passage of emergency services, relief operating vehicles, and commercial cargoes,” said Yu.
On Monday, Cascolan visited Bicol and talked with Police Regional Office 5 officials led by Brigadier Gen. Bartolome Bustamante regarding their ongoing effort to help the affected residents.
The Bicol police force, in coordination with local government units in different provinces in the region has initiated pre-disaster cleanup and road clearing operations to ensure the unhampered flow of vehicles especially the delivery of basic commodities.
It also activated its Pulis-Kasurog Food Bank which aims to reach thousands of people by providing them with assorted relief goods and personal hygiene kits as they rebuild themselves after the wrath of a typhoon.
Bustamante said the entire PRO5 remains on guard to provide necessary assistance to the Bicolanos.
PRO11 officers and men in Ilocos-Pangasinan region led by Brig. Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. also donated P100,000 worth of grocery items to the PRO5.
The supplies which include bottled water and assorted canned goods now form part of the Pulis-Kasurog Food Bank which aims to provide relief goods and other essential items to the displaced residents.
The PRO2 in Cagayan Valley headed by Brig. Gen. Crizaldo O. Nieves also provided 160 sacks of rice for the Bicol residents.
