Four Western Visayas provinces under state of calamity
The provinces of Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Antique and Iloilo City were declared under a state of calamity as the death toll and reports of damage brought by typhoon "Frank" in Western Visayas continued to rise.
The Regional Disaster Coordinating Council reported 123 deaths as of yesterday morning including 86 in Iloilo, 15 in Iloilo City, 12 in Antique, six in Capiz and one in Negros Occidental. Twenty nine others were injured while 221 remain missing.
But data from the provincial disaster coordinating council of Iloilo reported 107 dead, 128 missing and 16 injured as of 12:30 p.m. yesterday.
The Iloilo provincial board voted unanimously to declare the province under a state of calamity in a special session yesterday.
The board will allot an initial P25 million for assistance to the victims and rehabilitation efforts, said Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico.
Vice President Noli de Castro, Health Secretary Francisco Duque, Social Welfare Esperanza Cabral and Senators Richard Gordon and Manuel "Mar" Roxas visited affected areas and victims to assess the situation and handed out relief assistance to victims in evacuation centers.
De Castro directed national government agencies to coordinate with affected local government units to hasten the delivery of assistance. He also instructed the officials to submit update reports
"The damage is of unparalleled proportions," Duque said in a telephone interview Duque said a major concern is the prevention of an outbreak of diseases especially water-borne sickness and respiratory track infections. He noted that many hospitals were damaged and patients had to be relocated to other hospitals.
In Aklan, residents of the capital town of Kalibo and neighboring areas waded through ankle-deep mud in the aftermath of the worst flooding experienced in Western Visayas. "It's terrible here," Aklan Rep. Florencio Miraflores said in a telephone interview.
Miraflores said the whole province has no electricity and the lines of two telephone companies are still down. The province has been cut off from communication since Saturday as mobile phone signals remain erratic and only text messages are possible at most times.
Reports from the Aklan provincial disaster coordinating council said 27 people died in the province as of 6 p.m. yesterday Fifty-two others were injured while two others remain missing.
Nearly 30,000 residents have been evacuated, said Senior Supt. Benigno Durana, Aklan provincial police director.
Aside from Kalibo, hardest hit were the towns of Numancia, Banga, Ibajay, New Washington and other areas along the Aklan River.
"We need potable water and ready-to-eat food and dry clothes," appealed Miraflores. Water supply has been cut off after the flood damaged the generating sets of water system supplying Kalibo and neighboring towns. The Aklan provincial hospital also remained without electricity as of yesterday.
Resorts and hotels on Boracay Island relied on generating sets as electric and phone system continued to be down, according to Senior Insp. Auxilio Dador, chief of the Boracay Special Tourist Protection Office.
Strong winds and waves damaged or destroyed 76 pumpboats and and speedboats. The hardest hit was along the Bolabog area where an estimated P50 million worth of properties were destroyed.
Thousands of passengers stranded on the island and at the Caticlan jetty port over the weekend had started to go home since Sunday, according to Dador.
Antique Gov. Salvacion Zaldivar-Perez, chair of the Regional Development Council of Western Visayas, appealed for help for Panay Island.
"All provinces were badly hit. I appeal to all agencies to give assistance especially food, dry clothes and water to the victims," Perez said in a telephone interview.
Antique had 31 fatalities and 59 still missing as of 5 p.m. yesterday, said Perez.