OCD: Fatality in Camarines Norte not Pepito-related

The cause of death of a 76-year old man in Daet, Camarines Norte was not due to Severe Tropical Storm Pepito, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said Monday.

OCD Assistant Secretary for Operations Cesar Idio reiterated that the man reportedly perished after he was caught in a vehicular accident due to hanging internet cables along Bagabas Road.

“Sa ngayon, wala pong na-receive ang operations center ng NDRRMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council) na casualty related sa typhoon, only injured. But ‘yung na-report na casualty ay hindi po typhoon-related,” Idio said.

(So far, the operations center of the NDRRMC has not received any casualties related to the typhoon, only injured. The reported death was not typhoon-related.)

The OCD official said that they will further validate the fatality report through their regional and local counterparts in Camarines Norte.

“As far as death is concerned, there is one dead reported. But as far as casualty that would be attributed to Typhoon Pepito, we have not received reports,” he added.

Idio said that preemptive and forced evacuation of residents in typhoon-prone areas helped in mitigating the effects of Pepito, especially when relating to casualties.

Authorities initially implement a preemptive evacuation in times of disasters and shifts to forced evacuation if residents still refuse to leave.

“‘Yan ang isang susi ng ating tagumpay. Kahit ‘yung mga nakaraang [bagyo], minimum casualty dahil ang ating goal ay zero casualty as much as possible. Although mahirap abutin ‘yan, at least gawin nating mabuti ang ating trabaho,” he said.

(That was a key to our success. Even in the previous storms, we had minimum casualties because our goal is to have zero casualties as much as possible. Even if it’s difficult to achieve that, let's just do our job well.)

Idio also said that several government agencies convened to discuss the situation regarding Pepito.

Rapid damage assessments and needs analyses also need to be done to determine the extent of the onslaught of Pepito, as well as the needs of affected individuals, according to the official.

“Sa ngayon ang [right now, the] main concern po ng ating government [of our government] starting from the national, regional, at local levels [is] to provide the life-saving immediate relief needs of our affected population due to the consecutive tropical cyclones,” he said.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday called on Filipinos to unite and pray amid the multiple tropical cyclones that have affected the country in the past few weeks.

Tropical Cyclones Nika, Ofel, and Pepito have affected a total of 1,145,942 individuals or 295,576 families in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Monday.

The center of Severe Tropical Storm Pepito exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility at 12 p.m. on Monday, according to state weather bureau PAGASA.

PAGASA had said Pepito will continue to weaken as it moves over the West Philippine Sea due to the incoming northeasterly wind surge, creating an unfavorable environment, and may become a remnant low on Wednesday. —RF, GMA Integrated News