Ano orders pre-evacuation as ”Rolly” nears

October 30, 2020

Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano ordered pre-evacuation as part of preparations for Typhoon ''Rolly'', which entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility Thursday evening.

As of Friday morning, Typhoon ''Rolly'' was spotted at 1,100 kilometers east of Central Luzon, with winds of up to 165 kph near the center and gusts of up to 205 kph while moving westward at the speed of 15 kph.

"We already issued an advisory, on operation 'Listo' we should have prepared our evacuation areas. We should conduct pre-evacuation. We should not wait for the storm before we evacuate especially in low lying areas at the eastern seaboard," he said.

"At the same time, relief goods should already be prepositioned and our local chief executives should be present. They should be there, it is a big mistake if a storm arrives and our mayors and governors are not there within their areas," he added.

Ano stressed the importance of pre-evacuation to prevent loss of lives.

"It is important to prioritize the safety of our people, Those that may be affected by the typhoon surge and flooding, landslides and erosion should be evacuated to a safer place. We cannot do anything about the property, it will really be damaged by the typhoon but it can still be repaired, we can help each other rebuild that later," he said.

"We can use the schools, provincial gymnasium as evacuation centers but more than that we have prepared, we have what we call the regional and provincial  evacuation centers. These were specifically constructed for the typhoon," he added.

Despite a series of typhoons that hit the country, Ano assures that the government still has funds to help the people that may be affected by ''Rolly''.

"Our calamity fund is being managed by the NDRRMC ( National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council) and there is a provision that in case we run out of budget we can still ask from the office of the president, so we can assure that we still have funds to use for calamity," said Ano. Robina Asido/DMS