MANILA: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Friday (Nov 7) said he is “very, very sorry” for the casualties and other destruction caused by Typhoon Tino (international name: Kalmaegi).
He made the apology following a situation briefing at the Cebu Provincial Capitol, where he discussed with local officials the recovery of Cebu province.
“We are very, very sorry. I don’t… Of course, we are all sad because our casualty figures are very high. And most of them were really carried away, carried away by the water. Because of the size of the water, because of the speed of the flash flood that was coming,” Marcos told reporters.
As of Friday, the death toll from Typhoon Tino has reached 188, with 135 others missing and 96 injured, according to Office of Civil Defense deputy spokesperson Diego Mariano.
Marcos said local government units were expecting and preparing for storm surge. However, it was flash floods that engulfed several areas in the province.
“But anyway, it has happened. We will be helping the families of those who became casualties. We will help them to recover, put them back on their feet, and do what we can to make up for the loss that they have suffered,” he said.
The president also said, “And again, I made the same promise to Cebu, your governor and your mayor, that as long as the government, the national government is needed, we will be here. We are not leaving,” he told the Cebuanos.
“Until your lives are better and we are no longer needed for the help we bring, then we will remain here,” he said.
In the same briefing, Marcos also attributed the massive volume of floodwaters to some flood-control projects in the province.
“We went to other places. The evacuation centres that were damaged. The real damage was from the flooding here in this storm, not so much from the strong winds,” he observed.
“And we saw that the dykes and protections that were previously installed were not really able to withstand the weight and the amount of water that fell,” he pointed out.
Malacanang previously said it wants an investigation into the 343 flood control projects in Cebu from 2016 to 2022, which could have helped save lives and properties during Typhoon Tino’s onslaught.
It also told the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to investigate whether the unprecedented flooding was caused by environmental degradation such as deforestation, quarrying and unregulated development.
Based on data from Global Forest Watch, around 10,100 hectares of tree cover in Cebu were depleted in a span of 20 years.
Meanwhile, just last month, Gov Pamela Baricuatro directed the Cebu Provincial Government’s legal officers to look into reports of alleged environmental violations in the province, particularly related to quarrying. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
