President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday directed concerned agencies to ensure that medical facilities in areas affected by Super Typhoon Karding (international name Noru) are back to full function.
This, after Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire bared that some medical facilities in Nueva Ecija incurred damage caused by strong rains and winds brought by “Karding.”
Vergeire said the super typhoon broke windows of a rural health unit, ripped off the roof of an infirmary, and poked holes in the roof of the Mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (DATRC) in the province.
“The hospitals, just get them back to full function,” Marcos said during a situation briefing with top government officials at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) headquarters in Quezon City.
Currently, Vergeire said DOH regional teams are assessing the said health facilities which are currently functioning despite the damage.
She said the DOH has also yet to report any patients needing to evacuate from the said hospitals.
She, however, said one patient was transferred from the infirmary.
Vergeire assured that the DOH has Quick Response Funds that could easily repair the damage acquired by the health facilities.
She said the department is also preparing backup power sources amid power interruptions in the province.
“We already have prepositioned our generators in Nueva Ecija so that we can maintain the storage of our [vaccines],” she said.
In the same briefing, Marcos directed the Department of Energy to deploy generators with fuel to Nueva Ecija and Aurora which have limited power supplies.
He ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development to ensure a sufficient supply of food and other basic needs for evacuees.
Marcos also credited the national and local governments’ preparedness for sustaining minimal damage and casualties in the aftermath of the typhoon.
“I think we may have gotten lucky at least this time, a little bit. But I think it’s clear from this – from what we did these last two days is that very, very important is preparation. Get people out of the areas of danger. Put all of your assets that you are going to use pagka mag-rescue, para mag-relief (during rescue and relief operations) put them in place as much as possible prepare all of the ano… It’s really in the preparation,” he said.
As soon as he arrived in the Philippines from his six-day working visit to the US, Marcos said he immediately met with government officials to discuss the government response to the super typhoon.
“We started preparing at ‘yun talaga, (and really) if there’s one lesson I learned pag bagyo o pag disaster, kung pwede mong i-forecast (if there is a typhoon or disaster that you can forecast), is to plan well,” he added.
“Karding” weakened to the typhoon as it continues to move west northwestward away from Luzon on Monday. (PNA)
