Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — President Rodrigo Duterte joined social welfare department and local government officials in distributing relief goods on Tuesday to thousands of families in Virac, authorities said.
Duterte, accompanied by Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, and other officials were in Virac, the capital of Catanduanes.
Catanduanes is one of four provinces under a state of calamity. It was where powerful typhoon Nina (international name: Nock-Ten) first made landfall on Saturday.
“We appeal to all LGUs (local government units) to work hand-in-hand with DSWD and our field offices when it comes to distributing all aid to affected families,” Taguiwalo said in a statement.
“We want to ensure that all the assistance meant for calamity survivors go to them,” she added.
Early warning from weather forecasters about the coming typhoon allowed officials to store relief goods in the affected areas and preemptively evacuate families in Nina’s path.
The social welfare department said 12,000 food packs were pre-positioned in Catanduanes even before typhoon Nina made landfall. NDRRMC spokesperson Mina Marasigan said that as weather improved, a flight carrying an additional 1,400 relief packs were flown to the province.
More than 429,000 people comprising 87,000 families were pre-emptively evacuated, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in its update Tuesday.
Marasigan said the preemptive evacuation was key to the low number of reported casualties. They are still verifying the number of deaths from the typhoon.
Local officials and CNN reporters on the ground have tallied seven deaths and 18 missing. The missing 18 are members of a crew from a ferry which sank off Tingloy, Batangas, where Nina made landfall on Monday.
Nina cut a swath across the Bicol region and Eastern Visayas and on through southern Luzon and Metro Manila before exiting Central Luzon.
Evacuees in Camarines Sur, another province under a state of calamity, are asking for additional relief goods, as they may be staying in the evacuation centers longer.
In Marinduque, another province in the typhoon’s path, the NDRRMC aims for full power restoration there by this week. However, there is no target date yet for the full restoration of power in Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, Quezon, and Batangas.
CNN Philippines Correspondent AC Nicholls contributed to this report.
