Five 10-wheeler trucks loaded with essential non-food items were dispatched by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) to Ilocos (Region 1) as part of its continuing relief operations in the wake of recent tropical cyclones and flooding.

The OCD said three of the trucks carried kitchen sets, each truck containing 14 pallets, totaling 2,520 kitchen sets. These were intended to support affected families in restoring basic household functionality.

Meanwhile, the remaining two trucks delivered shelter repair kits, also with 14 pallets each, for a total of 1,400 kits to help households repair damaged homes.

OCD Officer-in-Charge Asst. Sec. Bernardo Rafelito Alejandro IV expressed hope that the relief assistance would fasttrack the recovery of the typhoon victims.

He recognized that effective disaster response “is not just about the delivery of goods but the solidarity, compassion, and willingness of Filipinos to stand together in times of crisis.”

“This logistical effort reflects the OCD’s commitment to immediate and sustained response, in line with the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach championed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and implemented through the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC),” he said.

He further noted that the ongoing relief mission embodies the Filipino culture of “damayan” or solidarity and “bayanihan” or communal unity.

Air Force, Army conduct damage assessment

Meanwhile, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and Philippine Army (PA) conducted a rapid damage assessment and needs analysis (RDANA) mission in areas battered by Tropical Cyclones “Crising”, “Dante”, “Emong”, and the southwest monsoon (habagat).

An S-70i Black Hawk helicopter was flown by the PAF while the Army’s Aviation Regiment utilized a fixed-wing aircraft to assess flooded areas in Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija.

The RDANA was made  in coordination with the OCD in Region III and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) – Field Office III.

The OCD-Region III team was led by Assistant Regional Director Shelby A. Ruiz, while the DSWD-FO 3 team was headed by Disaster Response Management Division Chief Albert Baybayan. The joint mission was supported by the PAF through Lieutenant Colonel Juji Grant D Generalao, group commander of Tactical Operations Group 3 (TOG 3), at the TOG 3 Headquarters in Tarlac.

Meanwhile, the Army mobilized its search and rescue teams as well as its disaster response teams to conduct humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) in the surveyed areas.

“All land, air and water assets of the Philippine Army were made available to provide assistance to typhoon victims and support the local disaster and risk reduction management councils during the calamity,” The Aviation Regiment noted.

According to the NDRRMC, a total of 5.5 million individuals or 1.5 million families were affected by the three storms and habagat across 6,000 barangays in 17 regions. The number of displaced individuals rose to 307,000, including 182,000 persons staying in 1,689 evacuation centers.

The death toll remained at 30, seven were still missing, and 10 were injured.

The damage to infrastructure ballooned to P5 billion while the estimated cost of damage to agriculture rose to P484 million.