POLICE Regional Office 1 (PRO1) director, Brigadier General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. yesterday said they have joined the ongoing search, rescue, relief and retrieval operations in Cagayan Valley where 23 were recorded dead while five were listed as missing as a result of typhoon ‘Ulysses.’
The official said that a medical team and five teams from the PRO1 Search-and-Rescue Contingent were sent off on Saturday to Tuguegarao City to help in ongoing efforts of the Philippine National Police. A SAR contingent from the PNP Maritime Group was also deployed in the area.
The PRO1 also extended a P110,000 aid to victims of the typhoon in the region.
“Today, we are not only into the battle against the pandemic; we are also into helping our fellow Filipinos who were hardly hit by typhoon Ulysses. In these trying times, let the spirit of Bayanihan flourish. Let us continuously pray for the safety of everyone. Together, we will recover and overcome all these challenges,” Azurin said.
PNP chief, Gen. Debold M. Sinas has been briefed by PRO2 director, Brig. Gen. Crizaldo O. Nieves on the progress of their SAR operations in the region where 23 have been confirmed to have died as a result of strong winds and heavy rains triggered by the typhoon.
Of the 23 fatalities, Nieves said that 14 were buried in landslides: 4 in Cagayan and 10 in Nueva Viscaya; 2 drowned in Cagayan; 3 in Isabela; and 1 in Quirino province; and 3 died of electrocution in Cagayan.
Five others were reported missing: 3 in Cagayan and 2 in Isabela while 3 were injured in Cagayan.
Nieves said the four landslide victims were killed after their home located along the Assassi-Temblique boundary road in Baggao, Cagayan were buried under tons of rocks and mud 11 a.m. last Thursday.
Another 10 were killed in a landslide in Bgy. Runruno in Quezon, Nueva Viscaya at 2 a.m. Thursday, he added.
