Former Vice President and senatorial aspirant Jejomar Binay urged the national government on Monday, March 7, to hasten the rehabilitation of communities and sectors affected by Typhoon Odette that hit the country in December of last year.

Binay aired his appeal after visiting several cities in Cebu last week to personally see the condition of its citizens and infrastructures adversely affected by the typhoon.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Odette caused over P47 billion worth of damages to agriculture and infrastructure in the Visayas, Mindanao, and parts of Luzon.

“Marami pa ring mga imprastraktura ang kailangan pang ayusin, kasama na rin ang pagbibigay ng tulong para sa mga residente at mga maliliit na negosyo na naapektuhan ng bagyong Odette (There are still a lot of infrastructures that need to be repaired, including the distribution of aid to residents and small businesses hit by Typhoon Odette),” Binay said.

The former vice president met with the leaders of Mandaue City, Lapu Lapu City, and Consolacion as they discussed the recovery efforts and plans being done in these areas.

“Dapat pong bilisan ng gobyerno ang paglalabas ng pondo para sa rehabilitasyon ng mga napinsalang komunidad, lalo na rito sa Central Visayas (The national government must hasten the release of funds needed for the rehabilitation of affected communities especially here in Central Visayas)," Binay said.

Binay added that in Central Visayas, damage to infrastructure amounted to P4.2 billion while the agriculture sector sustained P1.2 billion in damages.

He said additional funding should also be given to repair vital infrastructures like schools in preparation for the May 2022 elections and resumption of face-to-face classes.

“Alam naman natin na gagamitin ang mga paaralan bilang mga polling center sa darating na eleksyon kung kaya’t kailangan maisayos ito agad (We all know that schools will be used as polling centers in the upcoming election, hence, the need for those to be fixed immediately)," he said.

Department of Education (DepEd) Region 7 said that the damage to schools in Central Visayas reached P10 billion.

The region received an initial P7.6 million last January, while another P640 million was allocated by the DepEd Central Office for the repair and rehabilitation of classrooms.

The former vice president said that he will push for more funding to complete the rehabilitation of affected areas and sectors in the regions hit by Odette.

“Isa po sa ating tututukan ay ang pagkakaroon ng Odette rehab fund upang tulungan ang ating mga kababayang nasalanta ng bagyo na tuluyang makabangon (One of my key projects will be the launch of the Odette rehab fund to help our people recover from the devastation brought about by the typhoon)," Binay said.

“Nakikita pa rin sa maraming lugar ang pinsalang dulot ng bagyong Odette. Kailangan pong maramdaman ng ating mga kababayan na nagtatrabaho para sa kanila ang ating pamahalaan (We can still see the damage and devastation caused by typhoon Odette. The people must feel that the government is working for them)," he added.

Typhoon Odette was the 15th storm to hit the country last year and is considered as the strongest storm in 2021.