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OCD on Ulysses impact: Gov't not caught 'flat-footed,' but residents refused to evacuate


As far as the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) is concerned, the government was not caught "flat-footed" when it came to Typhoon Ulysses that caused massive flooding in parts of Luzon, only that some residents refused to evacuate when they were asked to.

OCD deputy administrator for operations Assistant Secretary Casiano Monilla made the remark Thursday as he was asked to give an update on damage caused by the typhoon while calls for rescue from residents affected by the flooding grew.

"We were not actually caught flat-footed dito sa event na ito. Kung minsan lang kasi, kapag nag-iikot ang ating local officials, hindi kaagad sumusunod ang mga kababayan natin," Monilla said in a press briefing.

"Kumbaga mas nagre-rely tayo kung ano ang ating nararamdaman, kung ano ang prevailing na sitwasyon na ating nararamdaman other than the advice na binibigay ng Pagasa," he added.

According to Monilla, evacuation of residents in flood-prone areas began as early as yesterday and even the day before.

He said that the devastation caused by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009, which also flooded Marikina City and other nearby areas, already served as a lesson for the government to prepare early for the impact of impending calamities.

"Since then, nagkaroon na ng patuloy na pagpaplano. Na-capacitate na rin lahat ng ating local government para sa pagpaplano hanggang sa kanilang execution at sa mga contingencies, sila ay nakahanda," he added.

Early preparations

In fact, Monilla said that even before Typhoon Quinta hit back in October, concerned agencies had already been informed of the succeeding weather disturbances which could possibly turn into typhoons.

"Even during those times, ito ay amin nang napag-uusapan sa lahat ng regional DRRM chairmen, 'yung aming mga regional offices, na pag-ibayuhin na ang pagpaplano," he said.

"For the other regions, sila rin ay well-informed, they have planned and continuously ay nakaabang sila sa developments dahil ang typhoon track [forecasting] naman ay based doon sa model kung saan ito dumadaan most usually kapag ganitong panahon sa taon," he added.

Monilla, however, denied that they purposely did not inform the public about their knowledge on the impending calamities and their preparations for it.

"Hindi 'yan private notice, but it's a meeting with the national DRRMC and the regional DRRMC for them to conduct their regional pre-disaster risk assessments and made the necessary preparations," he said.

"Doon naman sa regions, ito po ay nagpapatawag ng kanilang local governments para ma-forewarn ang local governments na ito. The national DRRM council cannot be conducting micromanaging the events because we have provided enough capacitation sa ating mga local governments to decide and plan," he added.

Moving forward

For now, Monilla could not compare yet the damage brought by Typhoon Ondoy and Typhoon Ulysses as they are still gathering more information, although he believes the volume of rainfall brought by Ulysses is not as heavy as that of Ondoy.

Likewise, he could not say that there were shortcomings from PAGASA in giving updates regarding the typhoon.

"Ang isa talagang limitation ng science at times would be the volume of rains that comes with the typhoons. We can predict the strength, yung lakas ng bagyo, yung bilis at yung kaniyang gustiness, but the volume, makikita lang yan once na nag-touch," he said.

"So forecasting naman ng PAGASA, sa tingin ko they have used the models. May deviation mas siguro nang kaunti but it's not that far," he added.

For Monilla, now is not the time to point fingers as the focus should be on rescuing and responding to as many people affected by the typhoon as possible.

"I guess it's not time for us to point fingers. I'm sorry to say that. But what we are focusing [on] now is the conduct of the rescue operations," he said.

"Let us finish the operations, we save lives first then saka na siguro natin pag-usapan yan," he added.

According to PAGASA's 11 a.m. weather bulletin, Typhoon Ulysses is now located over the West Philippine Sea, yet Signal No. 3 remains up over five areas.—AOL, GMA News

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