Lando most destructive

Lando is the most destructive typhoon to hit the country this year, leaving behind P7.5 billion in damage to agriculture and infrastructure.

Death toll has gone up to 58 – 13 in Central Luzon, 9 from Western Visayas, 8 from Ilocos Region, 5 from Cagayan de Oro, 2 from Metro Manila, 1 from Calabarzon, and 20 in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), 15 of which were recorded in Benguet. Eighty-four people were wounded.

Nueva Ecija and Bulacan suffered the biggest losses in agriculture with an estimated P2 billion and P1 billion, respectively. Also suffering substantial losses were Pangasinan, Isabela and Pampanga. Fishponds in Pangasinan were also damaged.

Aurora province registered only three deaths but suffered major damage. In Casiguran alone, 886 houses were totally destroyed.

 Some 268,774 families were affected by Typhoon Lando, including 1,242,239 persons.

One hundred one road sections are not passable. Eleven bridges were destroyed. Dalton Pass in Nueva Vizcaya was closed to traffic for two days.

Many schools were damaged by Lando.

President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino Jr. visited Cabanatuan City and Casiguran, Aurora and delivered relief goods.

Vice President Jejomar Binay visited Tarlac, Nueva Ecija and Isabela. Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo visited Cabanatuan and towns in Western Pangasinan. There was no report on Grace Poe’s distribution of relief.

Unsolved problems

After five and a half year in office, the Aquino administration has left even simple problems unsolved.

One outstanding example is the lack of car plates. Land Transportation Office (LTO) had reported a backlog of 60,000 plates unreleased.

Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway (TPLEx) is still unfinished.

Airport congestion is still a major problem with airplanes going around Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for two hours before they are allowed to land.

Flooding is still a major problem. The P560-million flood interceptor project in Blumentritt, Manila is far from being finished.

The government has not reduced the incidence of Dengue cases. It has even increased. Malaria cases have also increased.

It takes at least one week to get an appointment for the issuance of a passport.

Another kidnapping

Loreto, Agusan Del Sur Mayor Dario Otaza, a former New People’s Army (NPA) member, and his son Daryl were kidnapped by suspected communist rebels from their home in Barangay Boan, Butuan City. The two kidnapped victims were found shot dead in a coconut plantation in Butuan City. The kidnapping took place two days after Otaza filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for reelection.

Malacañang, Vice President Jejomar Binay, and the Eastern Mindanao Command condemned the killings of Otaza and his son. Vice President Binay called for a probe and urged all those running for elective posts in next year’s elections to abide by the rule of law.

“Whether this brutal killing is election-related or a continuation of the oppression against Lumads, this culture of impunity must end,” Binay said.

Two tribal leaders in Agusan Del Norte, Datu Saligando and Datu Ricardo Mandihinog Sulhayan, were abducted by NPA rebels this month. The latter was killed.

On Oct. 13, Zamboanga Sibugay Mayor Randy Climaco was killed in an ambush while on transit from Barangay Batungan to Poblacion Tungawan. Mayor Climaco just came from the local election office to file his COC for reelection when the ambush occurred.

Earlier this month, Isabela Vice Mayor Abdulbaki ‘Panther’ Ajibon was wounded when a bomb exploded, hitting his convoy in Isabela City, Basilan. The incident happened two days after he declared he was seeking the mayoral post of Isabela next year.

Regional and provincial mobile forces as well as the special force battalion are being deployed to help the 401st Infantry Brigade in the manhunt operations against the rebels in Agusan del Sur.

Meanwhile, Chinese Consul General Song Ronghua, his assistant, Consul Sun Shan, and Consul Finance Officer Hui Li were shot inside a restaurant in Cebu City. Consul Ronghua survived the shooting while the two others died. They were shot by Li Qing Li and his wife Guo Jing, who will be both turned over to the Chinese Embassy because they have diplomatic immunity.

Tidbits

Gapos Gang held up a family of Philippines Graphic Magazine account manager Dennis Guevarra in Las Piñas, and got away with P400,000.

Presidential spokesperson Herminio Coloma said that it will take two more years to recover from Typhoon Yolanda. Only 28 percent of P76.6 billion was released for rehabilitation.

Out of 50 public–private partnership (PPP), only 10 was awarded by the government.

Vice Mayor Isko Moreno is adopted by the Miriam Defensor Santiago-Bongbong Marcos ticket as a senatorial candidate.

Susan ‘Toots’ Ople is adopted as a senatorial candidate by United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Former Senator Tessie Aquino Oreta is running for Congress in Malabon.

The Sandiganbayan has suspended Marinduque Governor Carmencita Reyes for 60 days as she faces graft and technical malversation.