110 reported dead, 33 missing due to Paeng —NDRRMC

The number of reported fatalities due to Severe Tropical Storm Paeng has climbed to 110, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Tuesday morning.

Of the number, 79 have been confirmed while 31 were "for validation," the NDRRMC said in its 6 a.m. report.

Most of the reported fatalities, or 59, were from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

In Maguindanao, which is part of BARMM, 61 people have perished due to Paeng, according to Governor Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu in a briefing with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

Aside from the fatalities, another 101 persons were reportedly injured — 63 confirmed and 38 yet to be validated.

Meanwhile, search operations were ongoing for the 33 people who were reported missing, of which 23 were confirmed.

The NDRRMC also said Paeng, which lashed many areas across the country over the weekend, has displaced 865,981 persons, including those staying inside 2,728 evacuation centers.

On the other hand, a total of 347,485 persons were pre-emptively evacuated due to Paeng.

The tropical cyclone also affected 741,777 families or 2,418,249 persons in 17 regions and 70 barangays.

A total of 1,287 related incidents were also reported, most of them flooding. Some rain-induced landslide incidents were also reported.

Paeng also left 6,542 houses damaged — 5,035 partially and 1,507 totally — with an estimated cost of P12,415,000.00. Meanwhile, 55 infrastructures were damaged, most of them bridges.

The cyclone also affected 53,575 farmers and 58,086.852 hectares of crops, and damaged five agricultural infrastructures, machineries and equipment.

All in all, Paeng's damage to agriculture was estimated at P1,300,352,127.355, according to the NDRRMC.

As of Tuesday morning, a total of 160 cities and municipalities were under state of calamity due to the effects of Paeng, which exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Monday afternoon. 

Another cyclone, Tropical Depression Queenie (international name: Banyan), is expected to bring light to moderate with at times heavy rains over Caraga and Davao Oriental, PAGASA said in its 11 a.m. bulletin.

Queenie was last spotted at 10 a.m. at 490 kilometers east of Davao City or 425 km east southeast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur packing maximum sustained winds of 45 km per hour and gustiness of up to 55 km/h.

It is moving westward slowly.

From Queenie's center, strong winds are extending outwards up to 180 km.

National Land Use law

As this developed, Davao City Representative Paolo Duterte made a renewed call to pass a National Land Use law to prevent devastating effects of future storms.

There are several pending bills on national land use before the House of Representatives, including Duterte's House Bill 3956.

The National Land Use bill outlines land use policies to determine areas allocated for agricultural production, housing and settlements, energy development, industries and other economically productive sites, and protected zones for environmental sustainability.

“We often mention the National Land Use Act in the context of ensuring food security  by preventing  the conversion of agricultural lands to housing and commercial projects. But the rational and efficient planning and use  of our land resources is also vital in ensuring that we get to identify  high-risk and danger-prone locations  in our communities,” Duterte said in a statement.

“Given the country’s approximate land area of 300,000 square kilometers, there is a need for a comprehensive and responsive land use policy to address the impact of deforestation and urbanization on food, housing, business, health and the environment,” he added.

On top of addressing these needs, the Davao City lawmaker said a national land use policy will also assist local government units (LGUs) in mapping out  their climate-resilient development plans.

“These maps should be shared and disseminated to LGUs which will subsequently guide them in the preparation of their own hazards-constrained development and physical framework and land use plans," he added. —with a report from Llanesca T. Panti/KBK/KG, GMA News