OCD sees super typhoon affecting 10 M people

Super Typhoon Pepito could potentially affect at least 10 million people as it barrels toward Luzon, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said yesterday.

- EMMANUEL TUPAS

The scenario prompted national government agencies to ramp up disaster response measures, including pre-emptive and forced evacuation of residents in low-lying areas and coastal towns as well as mobilization of search and rescue teams, equipment and relief supplies.

"We are preparing for 10 million affected individuals so we need to ramp up our preparations," OCD administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said at a news forum in Quezon City.

He clarified the projected figure includes the people who were already displaced by other cyclones such as Tropical Storm Ofel and Severe Tropical Storm Kristine.

The estimated figure is the basis for their careful planning in responding to the typhoon, the official said.

Among these is the distribution of food packs, hygiene kits and medical supplies in the regions that would bear the brunt of the typhoon.

Learning their lessons from Kristine's ravaging in the Bicol Region, Nepomuceno said they have mobilized search, rescue and retrieval teams in Luzon and other parts of the country.

There are at least 13,857 personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Fire Protection and other concerned agencies which form part of the 1,282 search, rescue and retrieval teams nationwide.

Of the number, 3,830 personnel belonging to 493 teams are on standby in Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

Two Black Hawk helicopters, two Navy ships and 73 rubber boats from the military were readied for humanitarian missions, Nepomuceno said.

He has requested an inventory from the Department of the Interior and Local Government on the rubber boats of local government units (LGUs).

"The capacity of our LGUs is important as their inventory is most critical in the first hours of the typhoon," he stressed.