Government rescuers help search and retrieve bodies at the massive landslide at Ucab in Itogon, Benguet.
/Inquirer photo
The number of people killed in the wake of typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut) climbed to 74 on Tuesday while 55 others remain missing, according to data released by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Public Information Office.
PNP’s numbers show that most of the casualties come from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), with 60 dead. This was followed by Region 2 (10), Region 3 (2), and Region 1 and National Capital Region (1 each).
Most of the missing persons were also from CAR (52). Region 1 has two missing persons and NCR has one.
The PNP also said that 3,705 houses were destroyed in Region 1, 2,524 in CAR, 589 in Region 3, and 26 in NCR.
Landslides in Benguet due to rains and winds from Ompong, specifically in Baguio and Itogon, were the cause of most of the deaths in CAR.
Meanwhile, Sen. Grace Poe on Tuesday said she wants a part of the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) fund reserved for victims of natural disasters.
“Kaysa bigyan sila ng groceries paminsan-minsan, bakit hindi na lang gawing regular, organisado, at fixed ang time-frame ng ayuda? At kung pera ito, sila ang mag-desisyon kung ano ang mas higit na kailangan nila,” Poe said in a statement on Tuesday.
(Instead of giving them groceries from time to time, why don’t we make this financial aid regular, organized and with a fixed time-frame? If they get cash, they can decide how to spend it best for their needs.)
Poe said five percent of the cash transfer fund must be allotted to victims of natural disasters and other calamities.