Affected Families Now 10.3M Says NDRRMC; PNoy to stay in Tacloban

In its 6 am Monday update, the NDRRMC said Yolanda had affected 2,212,955 families or 10,306,318 people in 10,365 villages in 44 provinces.

Of these figures, 74,015 families or 353,862 people are staying in 1,550 evacuation centers, Gma News Online reported.

Reports said the death toll remained at 3,976 with 18,175 injured and 1,598 still missing. It added at least 288,922 houses were destroyed while 282,884 were damaged.

The damage was estimated at P10,384,690,061, which includes P1,295,508,600 in infrastructure and P9,089,181,461 on agriculture.

In a related development, President Benigno Aquino on Sunday said he will be staying in Tacloban City indefinitely and will remain in the region until he sees that the situation in Leyte and other devastated areas is “OK”, Gma News Online reported.

The president, in a briefing at an NFA warehouse in Tacloban when asked how long he would be staying in the region, said “Hanggang makuntento tayong OK na ‘yung sitwasyon. Ang gusto natin talagang maibsan ang pinagdadaanan ng lahat sa lalong madaling panahon. Hanggang wala akong makitang maidadagdag ko pa dito, mananatili muna tayo dito,”

Reports added Aquino was considering the idea of offering work for food or cash for pay programs to Tacloban residents to speed up clearing operations in the city.

“Ngayon, mag-uusap kami ni Mayor, matanong ko sa kanya, puwede ba nating ma-mobilize ‘yung citizens natin for cash for work, or food for work programs para mapabilis ‘yung pagki-clear. Kanina marami tayong nakitang mga waterways na wala pang effort para tanggalin yung debris,” Aquino said.

The president was earlier criticized for the government’s slow response to the victims of the super typhoon, something Aquino is trying to remedy with his presence in the storm-hit areas in Visayas, Gma News Online reported. “Marami tayong inaasahan after one week eh, hindi ko nakikita. So baka dapat eh [personal kong asikasuhin.] Kaya nandito tayo ngayon, tutok na tutok,” Aquino said.

The online news reported Aquino has admitted that it might take a while for those affected to return to their normal lives, saying power may take two months or longer to restore.

“Power will take about two months to restore at the earliest possible time. So there is that daily need that has to be met every day. Nabanggit din ni [Energy] Secretary [Jericho] Petilla na mukhang matindi raw ang shortage ng yero,” Aquino said.

Source: Gma News Online