CITY OF TAGUM, Davao del Norte, Nov. 13 (PIA) as of 3:00 p.m.—As search and retrieval operation of two missing persons is going on, Davao del Norte Provincial Gov. Rodolfo P. del Rosario today urges people to listen to precautions especially during adverse weather conditions such as typhoons.
Much as the provincial government sets high standards of disaster preparedness and mitigation, people’s cooperation is needed to prevent unnecessary loss of lives during calamities, Del Rosario said during today’s Tagum Biz Talk at Big 8.
He said the network of coordination of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) with counterparts of local government units was well established in anticipation of tropical depression Zoraida’s landfall, but “people decided (to do things) on their own without following instructions.”
“People should take government warnings seriously. Let us not wait for the typhoon to come,” he said as he revealed two persons who went missing while major rivers in the province were swelling yesterday due to continuous rains caused by tropical depression Zoraida, placing Davao Region under Public Storm Warning Signal No. 1.
PDRRMO incident commander Eric Rosillo this morning revealed that a certain Ben Banhaw, 22 years of age of Purok 3, Brgy. Tanglaw in the Muncipality of B. E. Dujali was swept yesterday afternoon by raging flood waters of Tuganay River as he was trying to retrieve some drift woods.
Another missing person was identified as Dowen Anito, 20 years of age, resident of Purok 3 of Brgy. Sampao in the Municipality of Kapalong. Yesterday late afternoon, Anito reportedly tried to swim across the Tagum-Liboganon River despite the raging flood-waters.
Rosillo said PDRRMO volunteered to join the search and retrieval operation of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Offices (MDRRMO) of Carmen and Kapalong and dispatched two teams of six personnel each trained on water search and rescue. It also sent vital equipment.
The search and retrieval operation still went on as of press time and that PDRRMO had yet to receive reports that bodies of missing persons had been found.
Meanwhile, Gov. Del Rosario said the provincial government sets to intensify community-based disaster awareness campaign next year through its program dubbed as operation Awareness on Natural Disaster and Mitigation (Oplan ANDAM).
This will go full-swing next year targeting households as the provincial government sees the need to instill disaster preparedness among families and communities, he said.
Among the Oplan ANDAM activities designed to adapt to climate change are tree planting, community food-for-work, development of bio-gas projects in communities, water sanitation, cultivating crops resilient to weather changes. (PIA 11/ Jeanevive Duron-Abangan)
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