After witnessing for himself the damage brought by super typhoon Uwan’s storm surge in Tubli, Caramoran last week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has urged local government units to seriously consider relocating residents living near the sea to safer areas.
“Ang problema talagang dapat nating tingnan, kasi baka maulit ito, baka kailangan nating isipin na huwag magtayo ng anumang structure na ganito kalapit sa dagat,” he told the media in an ambush interview while visiting Tubli, Caramoran last week.
He said it is not feasible to just build higher sea walls if the storm surge is high.
“So we have to find a way where we can relocate residents here,” the president stressed. “The truth is this will happen again so let us not place them in uncertainty. Hanapan na natin ng ibang paglalagyan, malayo sa storm surge.”
The same directive has been given to local officials in Cebu, which was devastated by typhoon Tino a week before Uwan passed close to Catanduanes.
Pres. Marcos said in a briefing that residents who had built homes in prohibited or high-risk areas would be moved to safer grounds, with government support for temporary shelters and eventual resettlement.
Media reports state that Cebu City has begun enforcing a no-build zone policy along riversides and other high-risk areas after flooding claimed 33 lives and destroyed 15,000 homes along riverbanks and coastal zones – areas long identified as danger zones due to flooding and storm surges.
Under Article 51 the Water Code of the Philippines, easements or no-build zones are strips of land along the shores of seas, lakes or rivers that is reserved for public use or environmental protection.
These zones are measured from the highest tide line to three (3) meters in urban areas, 20 meters in agricultural areas, and 40 meters in forest areas within which the law prohibits the building of permanent structures that would impede public passage or harm coastal ecosystems.
Due to the damage wrought by natural calamities, some LGUs in the country are considering even wider no-build zones to protect coastal communities against natural hazards like storm surges.
For the meantime, according to local officials including Tubli Punong Barangay Ma. Epe Palero, their only choice is to ask the national government for help in rebuilding their houses and seawalls.
The coastal barangay counted 158 totally damaged and 370 partially damaged houses as well as one totally damaged classroom and 14 others with major damage.
Most fishermen also lost their motorized bancas during the typhoon, as the storm surge also damaged the seawall.
The president has directed all concerned national agencies to provide necessary assistance to typhoon victims through the LGUs under the one-year State of National Calamity that he declared earlier.
Under the Integrated Disaster Shelter Assistance Program (IDSAP), the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) provided P10,000 cash assistance to residents whose homes were destroyed and P5,000 for those with partial damage.
The agency has also procured 150 sets of housing materials for distribution to beneficiaries which will be identified by the barangays and municipal governments in coordination with the provincial government, Governor Patrick Alain Azanza said in a report.
These recipients will no longer be eligible for the P30,000 assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The Office of Civil Defense is also providing 7,000 pieces of roofing materials while the Department of Health has extended P1.7 million worth of aid, including hygiene kits, breastfeeding kits, medicines, long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, water purification tablets, and drinking water.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) provided an additional 37 units of Starlink satellite internet devices following the 30 units distributed earlier to municipalities and hospitals.
The Ako Bikol partylist group brought 10,000 bags of rice while the Talino at Galing ng Pinoy (TGP) partylist group deployed heavy equipment to help remove numerous landslides blocking key roads.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Bicol has allocated P59,498,630 for 7.667 displaced beneficiaries in Catanduanes under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) program.
The ramped-up community recovery support is currently being rolled out across Bicol, with the wage release set last Nov. 16 in Bagamanoc, Bato, Caramoran, San Miguel, and Pandan.