Over P600M worth of assistance provided to Kristine victims in Bicol — OCD Region 5

A total of P637,751,033.76  worth of assistance has already been provided to all residents affected by the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine in the Bicol Region, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Region 5 said on Monday.

Claudio Yucot, OCD-Region 5, said the figure does not yet include the amount of assistance given by other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and Malaysia.

“So maliban sa sinabi kong figure, yung mga relief goods na pinadala dito ng ibang bansa, hindi po natin naano kung magkano ‘yun. Basta lahat po yun ay na-deliver sa ating mga kababayan na nasalanta dito sa kabiculan,” said Yucot in Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

(Aside from the figure I said, we have yet to account for the amount of assistance given to us by other countries. But all of them were already delivered to the affected residents in Bicol.)

Association of Southeast Asian Nations member-countries have earlier partnered with the Philippine Air Force to deliver disaster relief to communities affected by Kristine.

Further, the OCD- Region 5 said that relief operations are still ongoing in far-flung communities in at least nine municipalities that were flooded in Camarines Sur.

“Mayroon pa pong nine na musinipyo, ito po ay under ng District 3 at district 5 ng Camarines Sur. Ito po ay ground zero ng Tropical Cyclone Kristine. Ito yung areas na ating tintutulungan pa rin hanggang ngayon,” said Yucot.

(There are nine municipalities in District 3 and 5 of Camarines Sur. These are the ground zero of Tropical Cyclone Kristine. We are still helping these areas.)

Among the goods delivered to the said areas were bottled waters, butane gas for cooking, family food packs by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and sacks of rice by the OCD.

There were more than 2 million families affected by Kristine and the recent Typhoon Leon, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News