Camarines Sur Second District Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte Jr. commended Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla for his “hands-on management” during the government’s emergency and rescue operations in the midst of tropical cyclones “Kristine" and "Pepito.”

In a statement, the DILG said that Villafuerte praised Remulla for going the extra mile in ensuring that the needs of the hardest hit typhoon-affected provinces are addressed promptly  and efficiently.

In citing Remulla, Villafuerte recounted: “What we asked from him (Remulla) are rubber boats because sobrang baha (of heavy flooding), and we cannot even transport relief. And the next day, may action po agad (there was immediate action),” Villafuerte noted.

According to Villafuerte, Remulla called them multiple times, before, during, and after the onset of the typhoon to check their situation and ask what help he could offer.

“I am very confident that Secretary Jonvic, being at the helm of DILG, alam n’ya po ang gagawin n’ya (he knows what he is doing),” he added. 

Remulla, a former governor of Cavite, said that after “Kristine,” the DILG closely coordinated with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in identifying the geohazard sites in the forecasted affected areas.

He added that the evacuation of the residents were efficiently carried out during typhoons “LMNOP (Leon, Marce, Nika, Ofel, and Pepito) despite the same amount of wind and direction that they traversed.”

The DILG chief also praised the typhoon-affected local government units (LGUs) for their cooperation and positive response in heeding the government’s call for “a preemptive evacuation."

The Commission on Appointments (CA)recently confirmed the ad interim appointment of Remulla as DILG Secretary.