Duterte skips ASEAN-US Meeting, monitors Region 2 situation: Roque

November 14, 2020

President Rodrigo Duterte is monitoring the situation in Region 2, or Cagayan Valley, where Cagayan province is struggling with floods, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Saturday.


''He is sad. The president is monitoring the problem in Region 2,'' Roque told the Laging Handa virtual forum.


Roque said Duterte skipped the ongoing session of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-US Meeting.


Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. read Duterte's speech as the president is supervising the effort to send search and rescue teams using air assets, added Roque.


''The president is on top of the situation. He is in Malago (Clubhouse) with constant communication with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Ricardo Jalad,'' said Roque


Mark Timbal, spokesman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC), told Laging Handa that 33 persons were reported dead, 16 in Cagayan province.


Roque said although the ASEAN Summit is going on, Duterte will ''find a way to go to these areas.''


Roque said the government was not caught unaware of the flooding in Region 2. ''Based on our experience, the NDRRMC has prepositioned many supplies and equipment,'' he said.


Roque said the Department of Transportation (DOTr), through the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), has been working round-the-clock rescuing a total of 195 persons in Tumauini, Isabela and Tuguegarao City.


He said that around 3:30 am,  the PCG deployed the first convoy of augmentation, composed of 10 rescue personnel, one multi-purpose vehicle, one truck, and several newly-procured rubber boats.


As of 9am, the PCG safely deployed the second convoy of deployable response groups (DRGs) to aid the ongoing rescue operations in Isabela, Tuguegarao, and Cagayan.


These are composed of 60 rescue and medical personnel, two buses, one 12-wheeler boom truck, two M-35 trucks, and a total of seven drivers. They are also equipped with two rubber boats and three generator sets, as well as 44 drums of fuel for the rescue assets and vehicles.


Another convoy, composed of two trucks, is on its way after loading 20 drums of fuel for the two Coast Guard airbus light twin engine helicopters that will be used to conduct aerial extraction.


The two helicopters from the Coast Guard Aviation Force are going to Cagayan and Isabela to conduct rescue and aerial extraction efforts. Meanwhile, Coast Guard islander plane is in the area doing aerial rescue operations.


Two deployable response groups (DRGs) from the PCG Station in Ilocos Norte equipped with rubber boats are en route to Tuguegarao City via Pagudpud Highway.


The Philippine National Police (PNP) send 747 Search and Rescue (SAR) personnel and 1,003 Reactionary Standby Support Force in Region II, as of 6 am.


The Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) shifted efforts from counter-insurgency to search, rescue, retrieval and relief operations in CAR and Region 2.


Two Water Search-and-Rescue (WASAR) teams from Tactical Operations Group 2, Philippine Air Force (PAF) on its third day of operations in Ilagan City, Isabela, while three Search, Rescue, and Retrieval Teams of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 10 with two rubber boats and three trucks are in Brgy Bacolod, Alcala, Cagayan.


Two Hueys were sent by Nolcom from Clark to Cauayan, Isabela for operations in Cagayan, particularly Tuguegarao, for rescue and relief delivery operations to isolated communities.


One Sikorsky S76 SAR helicopter will leave Clark for Cagayan once weather improves. Three Wasar teams  from 505 Search and Rescue Group of PAF are ready at the Villamor Air Base to be airlifted by C-130 coming from Mactan, Cebu. In addition, two Bell 412 helicopters are on their way to Cagayan Valley.


The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Health (DOH) regional offices are providing relief assistance to affected residents of Cagayan Valley and Isabela. DMS