Pampanga Times
"Pampanga Times. Politics, Current Events, Headlines and Help Lines. Your premiere source for Kapampangan news. Malaus pu kayu!"
"Pampanga Times. Politics, Current Events, Headlines and Help Lines. Your premiere source for Kapampangan news. Malaus pu kayu!"
I’m so saddened about that posting of my photo on facebook with a caption saying I was buying wine at the height of typhoon Ondoy.
I was at Malacanang with my family helping to mobilize rescue and relief operations, for the victims in Metro Manila, and my constituents in Pampanga. Kahit anak ko tumutulong mamigay ng relief goods.
So many of our countrymen are suffering, there are so many lives to save, lives to rebuild, yet some people would rather use their time to spread malicious rumors over the internet. Katipunan was flooded at that time, how would I even get to Rustan’s?
Facebook and Twitter have been so helpful in keeping people in touch, in looking for loved ones and coordinating donations , just use them for doing good first while so many Filipinos are still in need, that’s all I can say. There’s still much to be done, let’s just all work together. :)
Please alert In’tl Aid Groups that President instructed Customs NOT to seize/tax relief goods
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
STA. ANA — As of Tuesday, at least 1,000 houses in Candaba have been submerged under twelve feet floodwater as rains and winds bombarded the province and the rest of the country due to Tropical Storm Ondoy.
Classes were suspended and operations of major establishments have been affected. Floodwater is continuously going up as Pampanga River, which is the catch basis of waters from Nueva Ecija and Bulacan, overflows.
Sun.Star accepts donations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy
But according to Junior Pangilinan, a resident of San Agustin village in Candaba, Candabenios have become used to flooding.
“Resiliency and responsiveness of the Candabenios in times flooding was remarkably observed,” he said.
As observed, every household has its own banca. Children regardless of age are given informal swimming lesson for their own safety.
A group of concerned citizens headed by Daniel Ombina has organized themselves to monitor dikes which were reportedly on the verge of collapse due to strong current of water along Pampanga River.
“We need to sacrifice a little, especially in times like this to save lives,” he said.
To date, barangays partially flooded are Paralaya, San Agustin, Pasig, Mandasig, Sto. Rosario, Bambang, Gulap, Buas, Lanang, Salapungan, Magumbali, Lourdes, Mandili, Tagulod, Cuayan Bugtong, Mapanique and Barangca.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
From Sun.Star
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Various civic groups and charitable individuals in the province have been lauded for their initiatives and immediate response to the multi-sector effort to help victims of Typhoon Ondoy.
Levy Laus, chairman of the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), cited the Quota International of Pampanga, the Jaycees and Rotary Clubs and members of the business community who have been actively involved in and donated to the collective effort of extending help to the victims, particularly in hard-hit towns of the province.
Sun.Star accepts donations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy
“We are grateful to the officers and members of these groups for putting their valuable time and resources to enable us to get the fund drive and relief efforts going under the aegis of CLTV 36,” Laus, chairman of the Laus Group of Companies, said.
CLTV 36, a regional television station in this city, is a member of the Laus Group.
On Sunday, following the devastating effects of Typhoon Ondoy on several towns in the province, particularly in Arayat where 12 persons were killed by a mudslide, CLTV 36 launched Operation “Tulong” to provide assistance and relief to the victims.
“While CLTV 36 is spearheading the drive, it’s really these groups and donors who have provided financial, moral and spiritual support for us to be able to convey our compassion and support to the victims in a concrete and meaningful way,” Laus said.
Laus said that, initially, financial assistance and relief goods will be extended to the victims in Arayat, particularly those who lost their loved ones and homes as a result of the killer avalanche of loose soil and boulders that buried them along Mt. Arayat’s slopes.
During a meeting with the various groups last Monday, Laus said assistance could also be extended to other victims outside Pampanga if funds are available.
It can be recalled that Laus, along with other business and civic leaders and government officials, were at the forefront in a multi-sector effort to save this city and the rest of Pampanga against lahar attack in the 1990s.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
ARAYAT — The City Government of Angeles led by Mayor Francis “Blueboy” Nepomuceno visited this town Tuesday to provide relief assistance to residents affected by the mudslide that left 12 people dead on Saturday.
Nepomuceno said that since Angeles City was spared from the wrath of Typhoon Ondoy, the City Government found it fitting to extend help to fellow Kapampangans in need.
Sun.Star accepts donations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy
“It is the responsibility of those who have the capacity and resources to help people in need. We are here because we are willing to join in the mission of helping fellow Kapampangans and doing good knows no boundaries,” Nepomuceno said.
The Angeles City contingents distributed relief goods mostly composed of food stuffs, to some 1,000 families here.
According to City Administrator Mark Allen Sison, the donation was sourced from contributions, the mayor’s own pocket and the city’s calamity fund.
The City Government donated some P250,000 worth of goods composed of mostly food stuffs and P50,000 burial assistances to the relatives of the 12 people who died in the landslide.
“The province has experienced this great disaster that somehow awakened the civic spirit in us. We hope that these simple assistances would help our Cabalens in their road to recovery,” Sison said.
Nepomuceno also led the group to the City of San Fernando to extend some P250,000 worth of relief assistance to the city.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
ARAYAT — The landslide that left 12 people dead in Barangay San Juan Baño here was caused by the unusual heavy volume of rain water and not by mining or illegal logging as alleged by local residents.
Citing a report by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Regional Executive director Ricardo Calderon told Sun.Star that a heavy volume of rain water had caused the mountain soil to soften, eventually leading to the landslide.
Sun.Star accepts donations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy
“There are no mining activities in the area. The fact is we have been implementing plans for massive reforestation,” Calderon said, dismissing earlier claims by residents on the existence of illegal logging and reports of mining activities in the area of the Mt. Arayat National Park.
Calderon also clarified the community that was affected by the landslide is not within the jurisdiction of the national park, a statement that is contrary to claims of local authorities here.
Mayor Luis Espino earlier said the houses affected by the landslide were within the area of the national park.
Calderon said the national park is under the supervision of both the DENR and the local government unit (LGU) here.
Some residents here said there have been treasure hunting activities in the area.
“They have been holding diggings in the area, some people here say they even heard blasts,” one resident who refused to be named said.
According to residents, the treasure hunting activities have been perpetrated by people from outside of the community.
Asked if this was true, Calderon said they were able to apprehend treasure hunters last February.
“There was a record of a treasure hunt but that was before and any such activities are no longer in existence,” Calderon said, adding that the national park is a protected area and such activities are not allowed.
The MGB and the DENR, Calderon said, are still coordinating efforts to study the potential danger posed by the collapsed area to other communities here.
PRESIDENT CONDOLES WITH MUDSLIDE VICTIMS
PAMPANGA. President Gloria Arroyo condoles with families of mudslide victims in Barangay San Juan Bano, Arayat, Sunday. (Chris Navarro)
I extend my deepest sympathies to all our kababayans who were affected by the worst natural calamity that has struck us in decades, especially to those who lost their loved ones and those whose properties were either swept or damaged by typhoon Ondoy. My sympathies go to you all. As a citizen of this country, I am involving myself in the rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations. As chairman of the house energy committee, I am also exercising my committee’s oversight functions to ensure that power is restored immediately to all affected areas as long as any threat of danger no longer exists. If there are people still submerged in water, while we badly need power to make our daily lives more convenient and to keep the economy running, we do not want to risk anymore lives brought about by accidental electrocution. At the same time, I applaud the valiant efforts of media practitioners, who despite being victims of the calamity themselves, risk their lives just to bring us on-the spot situations which greatly helped our different agencies in mounting rescue operations at the height of the wrath of typhoon Ondoy. I also heard that some of them were even personally involved in rescue operations. They were our eyes and ears and their efforts have helped save thousands of lives. I salute you all.
