The Muntinlupa City Council passed a resolution on Oct. 31 placing the city under a state of calamity due to the devastation caused by severe tropical storm “Paeng.”
Councilor Raul Corro, majority floor leader, said members of the City Council held an emergency special session to tackle the resolution.
“We just passed resolution this afternoon in an emergency special session declaring Muntinlupa City as in a state of calamity due to typhoon Paeng and auth the Mayor to utilize the 30% Quick Response Fund of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund for relief operations and repair and rehabilitation of infrastructure and properties damaged by said typhoon,” said Corro.
The resolution was passed after Mayor Ruffy Biazon endorsed to the City Council a resolution approved by the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (LDRRMC) recommending the declaration of a state of calamity in Muntinlupa.
LDRRMC Resolution No. 10 stated that on Oct. 29 and 30, “Paeng” affected “Muntinlupa City causing disruption of classes, businesses, fisheries and electric power due to floods, intense heavy rain and strong winds ranging from 95 to 120 km/h.”
Based on the initial assessment of the Muntinlupa City Department of Disaster Resilience and Management, “Paeng” caused two deaths in the city and the evacuation of more than 1,200 families or 5,000 individuals from flooded areas.
Eight of the nine barangays in Muntinlupa were affected by flooding and 13 of the 25 risk areas are still flooded as of Oct. 30, “causing disruption to normal daily activities and livelihood of majority of the population.”
The resolution also cited a report from the City Health Office (CHO) of “incidents of reported cases of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) to consider pulmonary tuberculosis, community acquired pneumonia, punctured wounds and other water-borne, communicable and non-communicable diseases in health centers and evacuation centers across the barangays, and that the cases are seen to increase should concerned individuals stay in evacuation centers and flooded areas due to high-transmissibility.”
In addition, 16,871 incidents of power outages were reported in Muntinlupa.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that as of Oct. 31, there were 98 dead, 69 injured, and 63 missing persons due to “Paeng.”