President Duterte has directed his Cabinet officials to prioritize providing drinking water to areas severely affected by typhoon “Odette”, noting that potable water is the first thing that people look for in the aftermath of a disaster.
Duterte said that people need to drink water at least every three hours. He also highlighted the need to stop people from drinking contaminated water that lead to more health problems.
“The key to solving the problem is seeing to it that the typhoon victims get a clean—potable clean water. Iyong (The) source na malinis tapos kung wala, ‘yung (should be clean but if there’s none), bottled—bottled water na lang (even),” Duterte said during a pre-recorded public address aired on Monday night, Jan. 17.
“Kung mayroong (If there is an) adequate supply, kung nag-stabilize na ‘yung sitwasyon sa tubig, wala ng problema, okay lang (If you can stabilize the water situation, there’s be no more problem, it’s okay). We minimize the—the people drinking contaminated water,” he added.
READ: Here's how you can help bring safe drinking water to Typhoon Odette survivors
Based on his post-disaster experience as mayor in his hometown of Davao City, Duterte shared that people will look for water especially when they are “under stress".
“So bilisan talaga ninyo ang tubig (bring water fast) because tubig (water) is breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Iyon ang experience ko. Importante talaga ang tubig na mainom (That’s my experience. Potable water is really important),” he stressed.
Assistant Secretary Hernando Caraig Jr., the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) deputy administrator for administration, reported that his office already delivered 1.74 liters or 2.1 million water bottles, plus a donation from the Lucio Tan Group and Chinese Chambers of Commerce of around 1.9 million liters of water.
READ: PH Red Cross continues deployment of water tankers to 'Odette'-hit Cebu, Negros Oriental
He added that they still have a reserve of 2.175 million liters of water to be distributed to the affected regional areas.
Caraig presented to Duterte that some regions such as 4B and 7 have water filtration system “to address the problems about diarrhea and other water-related diseases".
Typhoon Odette plowed through the Visayas and Mindanao regions a month ago. It caused billions worth of damage to public and private infrastructures.
According to the latest data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the death toll from the disaster is 407.