ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 13,857 personnel readied for 'Pepito'—OCD

13,857 personnel readied for 'Pepito'—OCD

Published Nov 17, 2024 01:32 am

At A Glance

  • The government has mobilized 1,282 search, rescue, and retrieval (SRR) teams.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) assured Filipinos that government assets and personnel are ready to respond to Super Typhoon Pepito’s impact.

MDRRMO (John Louie Abrina)
TYPHOON PREPARATION — A Manila Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office (MDRRMO) personnel prepares rescue equipment at their headquarters in Manila on November 16, 2024, in anticipation of Super Typhoon Pepito. (John Louie Abrina)

OCD Administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said this as the government acts in response to President Marcos' call to prepare for a worst-case scenario as the country faces its sixth typhoon in the past three weeks.

During a news forum in Quezon City, Nepomuceno said the government is continuously preparing for rescue and relief operations as Super Typhoon Pepito is expected to affect 10 million Filipinos.

He added that the government has mobilized 1,282 search, rescue, and retrieval (SRR) teams comprising uniformed personnel from the Philippine Army (PA), Philippine Air Force (PAF), Philippine Navy (PN), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).

"Sa kabuuan niyan, mayroon tayong 13,857 personnel dedicated dito sa ating sunud-sunod na bagyo (In total we have 13,857 personnel dedicated to this series of typhoons)," he said on Nov. 16.

Covered by SRR teams are Regions V, VIII, III, II, I, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

"Subalit iyong naka-standby talaga ngayon diyan sa mga areas na iyan, mayroon tayong 493 teams composed of 3,813 personnel (We have 493 teams composed of 3,813 personnel on stand by in those areas)," Nepomuceno said.

"Kumpleto naman din ang ating mga air assets galing sa Philippine Air Force (We also have all our assets from the PAF)," he added.

Nepomuceno, also the executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. assured them that PAF’s Black Hawk helicopters are ready for OCD disposal.

Also on standby are Navy ships and assets from the PCG dedicated to OCD operations.

He said I73 rubber boats from the national government are dedicated to vulnerable areas. More rubber boats are ready to serve if required. The OCD is doing rubber boat inventory with the help of DILG to assess the needs of the local government units (LGUs), which, according to him, are responsible for responding to the needs of their constituents.

"Kaya’t ang responsibilidad ng national government ay dagdagan lang ang kanilang kakayanan o iyong augmentation or reinforcement (The government's responsibility is to augment their ability)," Nepomuceno said.

"Gagawin natin iyan subalit iyong kritikal na panahon dapat ang local government units natin kayang-kaya din nila dapat (We will do that but during critical times the LGUs should be able to respond accordingly)," he added.

In Metro Manila, Nepomuceno said LGUs and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) need to prepare as the Marikina River could swell and inundate parts of Quezon City, Pasig, Araneta Avenue, Manila, and the Manila-Cavite border.

"The good thing is that Metro Manila LGUs have a good protocol that could be readily implemented," he said.

During the onslaught of Typhoon Kristine, responders rescued more than 350,000 individuals in the entire Luzon with the help of the OCD, uniformed personnel, PCG, and local government units.

Related Tags

Office of Civil Defense Disaster response Super typhoon pepito Ariel Nepomuceno
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.