• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said Nov. 11 that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has allocated P10 million in immediate assistance for the recovery of Moises Padilla, one of the towns hardest hit by Typhoon Tino in Negros Occidental.
Frasco was in town yesterday together with Education Secretary Sonny Angara and other Tourism and DepEd officials for a typhoon damage assessment and relief operations.
She said that they inspected the Jose Pepito Montilla Garcia National High School, where several classrooms sustained heavy damage from strong winds and flooding. “To help the school resume operations and maintain learning continuity, the DepEd turned over laptop units and a Starlink internet device to strengthen digital connectivity and support blended learning for teachers and students.”
The two Cabinet secretaries also led the distribution of family food packs and hygiene kits from the Department of Social Welfare and Development to residents staying at the Moises Padilla Elementary School.
Frasco said the municipal government also received 100 jerrycans and assorted medicines from the Department of Health, as well as 25 shelter-grade tarpaulins from the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.
“We also inspected the riverside area of Barangay Poblacion, one of the most flood-affected communities in the municipality and saw firsthand the devastation, the infrastructure needs of the town of which we are endorsing to DPWH for intervention,” she added in a statement.
The Moises Padilla LGU earlier said that 10 persons died and 25 others were missing in the aftermath of Tino.
“The typhoon devastated Moises Padilla Nov. 4, displacing more than 1,000 families and causing massive infrastructure and agricultural damage estimated at over P373 million,” the LGU said in a press release Nov. 8.
Of the initial damage, the infrastructure losses include P162 million in road damage, spillways – P75 million, hanging footbridges – P60 million, housing P60 million, and water pipelines P1.6 million.
The Municipal Agriculturist Office reported P11.5 million in total agricultural losses, with damaged crops valued at P7.1 million and P4.5 million in livestock and poultry losses.
“Tino” destroyed several critical access points, including the hanging footbridge and spillway connecting Barangay 1 to Barangay Inolingan, and the bridge connecting Montilla to Barangay Macagahay, the LGU added. | CGC
