DISPLACED ALBAY RESIDENTS INCLUDED IN RELIEF GOODS DISTRIBUTION

BY CET DEMATERA

LEGAZPI CITY---Though not identified as evacuees, island villagers in Albay are
now included among those recipients of relief goods once their officials listed
them as "displaced residents" whenever prevailing weather systems make their sourcing out for
livelihood very risky, such as the prevailing heavy rains spawned by tail end of the cold front (TECF) and onset of La Nina phenomenon over Bicol.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda immediately ordered the distribution of some 8,000 packs
of relief goods for the same number of families in the four major Albay
island group barangays of Cagraray in Bacacay; main land Rapu-Rapu and Batan;
and San Miguel in Tabaco City (CRABS).

Salceda said they decided to include the disrupted residents as recipients of
relief goods in order to discourage them from braving rought seas to fish and
go out to till their farms amid impeding flash floods or potential
landslides.

He said the Naval Forces for Southern Luzon (NAVFORSOL) is the group tasked to
deliver the food packs to 8,000 households of the four islands of Albay whose
livelihoods have been disrupted by 20 days of uninterrupted rainfall.

"We rushed the operations given the urgency of the deterioration of living
conditions which may compel fishermen to fish far out into the oceans which
caused the 5 missing persons in Catanduanes. Moreover, transportation to these
islands may be hampered by the Pagasa forecast of heavy rainfall this week,"
Salceda said.

The Albay governor said that food packs are usually earmarked for households cooperating
with the preemptive evacuation strategy of the provincial government.

"But, the ecoomic impacts on households are escalating with 34,053 families now
affected. And, the most urgent and critical are in the islands where trade has
also been curtailed by the weather conditions," Salceda said.

The governor said the assistance for the displaced residents should have been a
post-disaster food-for-work program.

"But urgency of needs after 20 days of persistent rainfall and the open-ended
or continuing nature of the disaster threat (La Nina Peak) which could persist
till end of March," Salceda stressed out.

Until yesterday, at least 2,268 families or 11,577 persons remained housed in
the different evacuation centers in Albay five towns.(cet dematera)
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