Info centers help locate missing persons due to ‘Odette’

MANILA – The government has set up a “victims information center” in every fire station to help typhoon victims locate their loved ones who went missing or cannot be reached in areas that were severely affected by Typhoon Odette, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday night.

“Mayroon tayong tinatawag na Victims Information Center sa ating mga kababayan na mayroong mga nawawala o walang balita sa kanilang relatives na tinamaan dito sa mga areas na ‘to. Pumunta lamang po sa pinakamalapit na fire station. Ibigay ang mga detalye. Hahanapin po natin ‘yan kung saan po silang area at magfe-feedback din po ang ating Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) kung ano po ang nangyari sa inyong relatives (We have a so-called Victims Information Center in our countrymen who have missing of their relatives who have been hit in these areas. Just go to the nearest fire station to provide details. We will find out where their area is and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) will also give feedback on what happened to your relatives),” Año told President Rodrigo R. Duterte during his Talk to the People.

Año said around 10,674 personnel from BFP, including their fire trucks, have been deployed to the regions severely devastated by the typhoon.

“Kahit ang ginagawa ng ating mga bumbero ay gumagamit ng bangka para makarating sa mga lugar na severely devastated dahil wala pa naman po tayong power and wala pa rin tayong signal sa communication (What our firefighters are doing is using boats to get to areas that are severely devastated because we still don’t have power (supply) and we still don’t have a communication signal),” he stressed.

Año also said the Philippine National Police (PNP) has deployed 14,203 cops dedicated to those areas affected by Typhoon Odette to maintain peace and order and will also help for rescue and recovery operations as well for relief and rehabilitation efforts.

“Pero nagdadagdag pa tayo galing sa ibang (We will augment cops from different) police regional offices from Police Regional Office (PRO) 5 ay mag-au-augment in Region 8, while PRO 4-A, will be go to Region 6, while 1,2,3, and CAR in Region 7, and PRO 9,10, 11,12 and BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) will be at Caraga Region,” he noted.

Año also reported that most of the personnel of the Department of the Interior and Local Government were also victims of Typhoon Odette as he ordered additional DILG field officers who will be assigned to different regions as they will be the bridge for national government agencies with the local government agencies, and they will also be in charge of the management of the dead and the missing.