Lobregat urges public to remain on alert vs weather disturbance
Mayor Celso Lobregat distributes relief goods to families affected by flooding due to heavy rains and strong winds spawned by Ondoy in Putik Sunday. The City Police Office under Col. Amador Corpus also initiated the donation of goods to the victims. (JOEY BAUTISTA)
Mayor Celso Lobregat has called on residents to remain vigilant and alert, as the weather condition remains unpredictable.
Zamboanga City during the past two weekends, was battered by heavy rains and strong winds, first due to moon soon rains from Sept. 20-21 and due to typhoon Ondoy last Saturday (Sept. 26).
Mayor Lobregat said 99 percent of the people who evacuated to safer grounds at the height of the flooding and rising waters in barangays affected by the heavy rains and strong winds spawned by Ondoy since Friday night until whole day of Saturday.
As of 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon, the CDCC action center recorded the number of families affected, meaning with houses damaged at 98 with 11 houses totally damaged and 50 houses partially damaged. The breakdown is as follows: Tictabon with 53 families affected, 8 totally damaged houses and 45 partially damaged houses; Ayala with 37 families affected, and 2 totally damaged houses and Campo Islam with 8 families affected, 1 house totally wrecked and 5 partially damaged.
Other areas affected due to high level of water but with no damages to properties or houses are Tugbungan with 4 families, Baliwasan—94 families, Putik—18 families and Labuan—400 families or a total of 516 families.
The homeless families in Tictabon are currently staying with their relatives in the area. The remaining victims in evacuation centers are one family at the Ayala Barangay Hall and one family at the Campo Islam barangay Hall.
Most of the affected families, who merely sought refuge in safer areas due to the rising water returned to their homes the very same day when water receded, according to Lobregat.
The Lobregat-led CDCC stepped up relief operations Saturday until Sunday to help alleviate the plight of the people whose houses were either destroyed or merely underwater.
“Zamboanga is outside of the typhoon belt that is one thing that we are very fortunate. We are spared from widespread damage although flooding occurs in the city,” the mayor said.
Several agencies and groups have responded to the situation and initiated distribution of relief goods to the victims as augmentation to the city government donations. The City Police office led by Col. Amador Corpus distributed food packs to victims together with Mayor Lobregat at the Putik Barangay Hall Sunday afternoon.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) forecasts the occurrence of two new low pressure areas to hit the Philippines’ area of responsibility in the next few days.
Meanwhile, Mayor Lobregat clarified reports that the dead baby dumped into the Putik river Sunday was not a flood victim.
Investigation showed that the baby, found inside a sack, was dumped by his own parents, who were identified to be residents of Zamboanga Sibugay.
The baby’s parents were identified through the hospital tag found in the baby’s wrist. Accordingly, the baby was born at the Zamboanga City Medical Center Sept. 21 and died 5 days later, during which the mother and child were discharged from the hospital.
Lobregat said the police authorities are conferring with the City Prosecutor’s Office to determine appropriate charges to be filed against the parents. (Sheila Covarrubias)