MORE food and water supplies donated to the Philippine National Police were brought yesterday to areas in the Bicol region which is still reeling from the devastation wrought by Rolly as the number of casualties from the super typhoon rose to 25 with 7 missing and 43 reported injured.
PNP chief General Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan said that their Food Bank has been activated to provide much-needed relief to Bicolanos displaced by the typhoon. As of press time, nearly 267,000 residents of Bicol were still staying in different evacuation centers in the region.
There are also 1,103 evacuees 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 365 different infrastructures damaged or destroyed, 336 of them in Calabarzon, 22 in Region 4-B and 7 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 4 from Calabarzon region. The missing include 4 from Bicol; 1 from Region 4-B and 2 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 entire Albay and Camarines Sur provinces have been rendered without electricity.
In Region 4-B, there are 184 areas hit by massive power outage followed by 12 in Calabarzon. There were also 30 barangays in Camarines Norte and some areas of Naga City without electricity to date.
Yu said that there were also 83 areas without cell phone communications including the entire Catanduanes province; 8 cities and municipalities in Albay; 53 areas in Mimaropa region; 3 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 1,000 pieces of 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 pieces of PPEs to help support the continuing relief operations in the region.
Apart from rescue and relief operations, police are also largely involved in the clearing of highways and major roads 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, Gen. 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 the different provinces in the region has already 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 after the wrath of a typhoon.
Bustamante said the entire PRO5 remains ready to provide the 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 PRO5.
The supplies which include bottled waters 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.
