MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of calamity to ramp up relief operations for more than 2 million people affected by the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year, officials said on Wednesday.
Foreign donations also poured in to boost local efforts to deliver help ahead of Christmas to the central and southern provinces battered by Typhoon Rai, presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said.
Duterte announced the declaration of a state of calamity during a televised talk this week, Nograles said.
“The declaration of a state of calamity will hasten the rescue and relief and rehabilitation efforts of the government and the private sector,” Duterte said.
“This will also be an effective mechanism to control the prices of goods and commodities in the areas,” he added.
At least 375 people were killed in floods, landslides and other accidents caused by the typhoon, police said.
About 2.4 million people were affected by Rai’s onslaught, including some 684,000 people who were displaced, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Local officials and residents have continued to appeal for more food, water, blankets, temporary shelter, construction materials and other supplies on television, radio and social media.
Mark Timbal, spokesperson for the national disaster agency, assured the affected residents that help was on the way.
“We are seeing the appeals and that is one of the reasons why we are utilizing the usual assets of the armed forces of the Philippines, private organizations and private airline companies,” he said.
“We have enough supplies from the national government,” he added. “Relief will come to them soon.”
China on Wednesday announced it was donating $1 million to relief efforts, while the European Union said it was allocating an initial amount of 1.7 million euros ($1.9 million) in humanitarian assistance.
The United States, France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Britain and other countries have also sent and pledged assistance, Nograles said.
Typhoon Rai, which slammed into the country’s eastern coast on December 16, flattened thousands of houses, ripped off rooftops, damaged buildings, uprooted trees and knocked out power and communication lines.
The weather bureau said a new low pressure area has been monitored east of the southern region of Mindanao, and it was closely watching it.
“This low pressure area has a 60-70 per cent chance to develop into a tropical depression,” the weather bureau said in a statement.
It urged the public to remain on alert for possible changes in the weather forecast, to take precautionary measures, and to be vigilant against false and inaccurate information being circulated by unverified sources.
The Philippine archipelago is hit by an average of 20 tropical cyclones every year.
The strongest typhoon to ever hit the Philippines was Super Typhoon Haiyan, which killed 6,300 and displaced more than 4 million people in November 2013. — dpa
