OCD: Marcos happy Karding impact not as dire as initially expected

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was happy that the impact of Super Typhoon Karding was not as disastrous as first expected, an official of the Office of Civil Defense has said.

In the latest episode of The Mangahas Interviews, Assistant Secretary Raffy Alejandro IV said the initial assessment was that Karding's effects would be similar to the massive destruction Tropical Storm Ondoy caused in 2009. 

“Based sa aerial natin kahapon, he was very happy na despite na Signal No. 5,  'yung impact niya hindi ganoon kagrabe," Alejandro told journalist Malou Mangahas.

"Lihis dun sa sinasabi ng PAGASA when we are doing assessment previously bago mag-impact kasi sabi mala-Ondoy,” he added.

(Based on our aerial inspection, he was very happy that despite the Signal No. 5 raised, the impact was less grievous. It veered from what PAGASA said during its previous assessment that Karding might be as destructive as Ondoy.)

Four hundred sixty-four died, 529 were injured and 37 individuals went missing after Ondoy hit Luzon back in 2009. Almost 200,000 houses were also destroyed due to the storm.

Marcos had conducted an aerial inspection on areas hard-hit by the typhoon on Monday including Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, and Tarlac.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), eight individuals including five rescuers from Bulacan have died due to Karding. Three persons were also missing.

The NDRRMC also said a total of 60,817 persons or 16,476 families were affected by the onslaught of the typhoon. Of the figures, 46,008 persons are staying inside 976 evacuation centers, while 5,803 persons are taking shelter in other places.

A total of 49,092 persons or 13,129 families were preemptively evacuated, it added.

The Department of Agriculture (DA), for its part, said damage to the agriculture sector surged to P1.29 billion.

NDRRMC

Meanwhile, Alejandro said the P31-billion NDRRMC fund was meant "to fund, support, rehabilitation, reconstruction programs to rehabilitate projects and facilities na nasira nung mga bagyo.” 

(The purpose of the special fund is to fund, support, rehabilitation, reconstruction programs to rehabilitate projects and facilities that were damaged by typhoons.)

“Medyo malaki po, but ito pong fund na ito it can also be use in mitigation projects. Ibig sabihin we can use this to construct shelters, mga emergency shelters or evacuation centers and to fund trainings po. Dati kasi puro lang repair repair ang pondo na ‘yan this time medyo pwede na pong mitigation project,” Alejandro said.

(It is a huge fund, but this fund can also be used in mitigation projects. That means we can use this to construct shelters, emergency shelters or evacuation centers and to fund training. Previously, that fund was only for repair, this time it can be used for a mitigation project.) 

The proposed P31 billion allocation for 2023 is an increase from the P20 billion that was allotted in fiscal year 2022. —NB, GMA News