Prepare for Typhoon Ramil - Puno Asks Local Execs in Central and Northern Luzon

October 19, 2009

Secretary Ronnie V. Puno of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is calling on all governors, city and municipal mayors in central and northern Luzon, particularly of the provinces of Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Kalinga, Apayao and Batanes group of islands to immediately activate their respective Local Disaster Coordinating Councils (LDCCs) as typhoon “Ramil” is expected to make a landfall in the country in the next two days.

Puno, who is vice chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), made the call as the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) announced that Typhoon “Ramil” with nternational codename  “Lupit,” with a packing peak wind of 175 km per hour, is expected to hit Cagayan either Wednesday or Thursday.

According to Pagasa, the said typhoon is expected to sweep across Cagayan, Kalinga, Ilocos Norte, Apayao and the Batanes group of islands.

Puno said that as chairmen of their respective disaster coordinating councils, it is incumbent upon the governors and mayors to take the lead in ensuring that   their disaster control and rescue plans are in place and functional.

The DILG secretary reiterated the call of NDCC to local officials in critical areas to start their evacuation plan now that there is still time, adding that their plans should also cover other disaster related operations such as early warning systems, relief and rehabilitation operations, including effective monitoring of prices and supply of basic commodities in their localities.

He urged local officials to closely coordinate their efforts with the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police and other government agencies.

Last Monday, Puno met with local chief executives of calamity-stricken provinces, cities and municipalities of Metro Manila and central Luzon to craft a new set of disaster control and rescue protocols in the aftermath of typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.”

“We have to come up with a new disaster control plan because after typhoon Ondoy, we saw a different profile to the disasters that we will face in the future. We used to focus on relief and rehabilitation but now we saw after Ondoy that we need to also focus on rescue operations,” he said.