DILG coordinating with storm-hit BARMM

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos has vowed to coordinate with authorities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which was severely battered by floods and landslides brought about by Severe Tropical Storm Paeng.

In a statement on Saturday, Abalos said “all hands are on deck” to work with local government units in assisting storm victims.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is coordinating with its counterpart in BARMM to help them access their calamity funds now that the region is placed under a state of calamity, he added.

“The DILG is working with concerned national government agencies to respond to affected families and mitigate the loss of lives and damage to property,” the DILG chief said as he condoled with the families of the 48 dead, mostly in the Bangsamoro region.

“Even though BARMM is autonomous with its own system of government, the DILG is ready to assist the region in their time of need,” he added in Filipino.

Over half of the residents in BARMM or 83,326 families composed of 416,630 individuals were affected by the storm, Abalos said.

A total of 158,040 individuals and 41,378 families were pre-emptively evacuated ahead of the storm’s landfall, he added.

Bicol region has the most number of evacuees with 101,116, followed by Western Visayas with 34,342; Eastern Visayas, 12,123; Mimaropa, 6,036; Calabarzon, 2,780; Soccsksargen, 898 and Central Visayas, 718.

Abalos thanked the local government units for their efforts in preparing for the impact of the storm. –  Elizabeth Marcelo