Typhoon ‘Pablo’ toll: 714 confirmed dead, 890 missing

The death toll brought about by typhoon “Pablo” continued to rise with 714 persons confirmed dead by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) yesterday while those missing ballooned to 890 as massive search, retrieval and relief operations continue in the typhoon-ravaged areas in Mindanao.
Undersecretary Benito Ramos, executive director of the NDRRMC, said that as of latest count, there were 714 recovered bodies, 257 of them remained unidentified, while 890 remained missing and 1,906 were injured due to the havoc wrought by “Pablo.”
Ramos said that affected families also increased to 486,554 composed of 5,408,900 persons coming from 30 provinces from Regions IV-B, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII and Caraga hit by typhoon “Pablo” last Dec. 4.
Of the number of affected families, a total of 25,812 families or 116,404 individuals remained inside 134 evacuation centers.

The NDRRMC also reported that 43,992 residential structures were destroyed while 70,591 others were partially damaged by the strong winds and heavy rains brought by the typhoon.

According to Ramos, 20 bridges and nine road networks remained impassable more than a week after the havoc wrought by the typhoon.
Latest update from the NDRRMC showed that four survivors and one dead body were recovered by Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel MCS-3005 along the waters of Davao Oriental.
Navy search and rescue teams were also able to retrieve three fishermen from General Santos in the custody of foreign vessel Reefer Calya Portese which was en route to Japan. They were subsequently brought to Caraga Regional Hospital.
Ramos said that another BFAR ship –MCS-3009 – also scoured the waters of Surigao and Mati in search of the missing fishermen from General Santos City and Sarangani but yielded negative result.
The NDRRMC chief said that forensic experts from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are now deployed in the typhoon-ravaged areas to help identify the fatalities through DNA examinations.
The civil defense office  said nearly 115,000 houses were destroyed and more than 116,000 people remain in crowded government shelters, where they face months of waiting for new housing to be built.
The missing also include 313 deep sea fishermen who set off from the country’s main tuna processing port of General Santos in Mindanao days before Bopha hit land, and were never heard from again.
The United Nations launched an $65 million global aid appeal Monday for the victims of the typhoon, the deadliest natural disaster in the Philippines since Tropical Storm Washi killed 1,200 people on Mindanao’s north coast last year.
For his part, Vice President Jejomar  Binay said the government’s key shelter agencies (KSAs) have donated P3.6 milllion for the purchase of relief goods for the victims of Typhoon Pablo in Mindanao.
The initial amount is composed of donations by the Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC) (P1.3 million), Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or Pag-IBIG) (P1.2 million), National Housing Authority (NHA) (P500,000), Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) (P500,000), and National Home Mortgage Finance Corp.  (NHMFC) (P100,000).
Binay, the Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) which oversees all KSAs, also instructed the agencies to organize relief drives for those affected by the typhoon.
“The KSAs will distribute the goods directly to the beneficiaries, in coordination with the concerned provincial governments to ensure equitable distribution of the goods among all affected communities,” the housing czar said.
The Vice President added that the relief goods are expected to be distributed to the victims who are still in evacuation centers in Tagum, Panabo, Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte; Mati, Samal, Cateel, Bagangga, Boston, Tarragona, Caraga, Cateel, Baganga, and Manay in Davao Oriental; and Monkayo and New Bataan in Compostela Valley.
The KSAs previously imposed a moratorium on housing loan payments of affected members to ease the burden of the victims.
Pag-IBIG, NHA and HGC imposed a three-month moratorium, while SHFC and NHMF imposed six.
During this period, housing loan borrowers need not pay their monthly amortization and no penalties will be imposed on them.
Meanwhile, former Senate President Ernesto Maceda urged President Aquino anew to give priority attention to the rehabilitation of agricultural farms and projects in the areas devastated by Typhoon Pablo.
Maceda noted that most of the victims of typhoon Pablo were coconut, banana and rice farmers. “The best way to enable them to get back on their feet is to give them all out assistance in replanting their farms,” Maceda said.
Maceda also urged that the provincial and municipal governments be immediately given at least P100 milion for the province and P30 million for the municipalities to be used for immediate repair and rehabilitation.
“At the same time, the Department of Budget and Management and the Commission on Audit must relax the rules as this is an emergency and the projects need to be completed fast,” Maceda added.
Maceda also suggested that the engineering units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines should now be sent to the devasted areas to start repair and rehabitaiton work.

"Typhoon 'Pablo' Toll: 714 Confirmed Dead, 890 Missing." Typhoon 'Pablo' Toll: 714 Confirmed Dead, 890 Missing. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.