The provincial government of Sulu in Mindanao displayed in its truest sense the spirit of "bayanihan" and solidarity as it sent the first batch of its donations to Luzon to support families affected by the recent typhoons and severe weather. 

The relief assistance, consisting of 600 sacks of rice and 300 boxes of food items, was transported via a Philippine Air Force (PAF) C-130 aircraft from Jolo, Sulu to Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Friday night, July 25.

The donations are part of a larger contribution initiated by Sulu Vice Governor and acting Sulu Officer-in-Charge Abdusakur M. Tan which totals 2,000 sacks of rice (25 kg each) and 1,000 boxes of food items. The remaining goods were scheduled for transport via a second C-130 flight on Saturday.

“This generous act from Governor Tan and the people of Sulu reflects the true essence of Filipino unity,” said Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Officer-in-Charge Asst. Sec. Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV.

“It is inspiring to see one region reach out to help another in times of great need,” he added.

Alejandro said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will take charge of the goods and lead the distribution to severely affected areas across the National Capital Region (NCR) and other impacted localities.

Tan expressed heartfelt solidarity with the affected communities and underscored the power of national unity in times of adversity.

“Sana'y huwag mawalan ng pag-asa ang ating mga kababayang tinamaan ng bagyo. Isa lamang itong pagsubok na ibinigay sa atin ng Diyos. Hindi Niya tayo bibigyan ng problemang hindi natin kayang lampasan. Ipakita natin na kaya natin ito, at magtulungan tayong lahat. Nawa'y makabangon tayong muli at sa ating pagbangon, maging mas matatag at mas malakas pa tayo kaysa dati (May our fellow countrymen affected by the typhoon never lose hope. This is only a challenge given to us by God. He will never give us a problem we cannot overcome. Let us show that we can get through this, and let us all help one another. May we rise again, and in rising, become even stronger and more resilient than before),” he said.

As of Saturday, July 26, data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) showed 5.2 million individuals or 1.4 million families have already been affected by the recent Tropical Cyclones “Crising”, “Dante”, “Emong” and the southwest monsoon (habagat).

More than 310,000 individuals were displaced in 17 affected regions, including 201,000 who were staying in 1,783 evacuation centers.

The death toll has also increased to 30, seven remained missing while 10 others were hurt.

There were 223 road sections and 24 bridges that remained impassable due to flooding and landslides, while 21 areas still have no power supply.

Damage to infrastructure was estimated at P5 billion while agricultural loss was pegged at P484 million. Further, there were 3,569 houses that were either partially damaged or totally destroyed due to the bad weather.

Central Luzon (Region 3) remains the most affected region, with approximately 2.2 million individuals or 667,000 families impacted by Emong and enhanced habagat.

Meanwhile, the OCD deployed emergency telecommunications equipment and three personnel from its Operations Service – Emergency Telecommunications Section (ETS) to La Union to support the ongoing response efforts of OCD Regional Office I (OCDRO I) and help ensure seamless emergency communications in areas affected by Emong.

An additional four personnel from the Central Office and 12 responders from various OCD regional offices in Mindanao will be deployed in the coming days to augment their operations.