BY FELIPE CELINO
ROXAS City — The government and volunteer groups stopped rescue operations in Capiz after floods caused by tropical depression “Quinta” in several areas in the province have subsided.
Gov. Victor Tanco Sr. ordered the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office and other concerned agencies to conduct massive relief operations in worst-hit areas.
He also asked the Provincial Agriculture Office to inspect the affected local governments and evaluate the extent of the floods’ damage on agriculture and fishery.
Tanco said affected families will be given financial assistance while damaged plantations and ponds will be rehabilitated.
The number of barangays affected by the tropical depression reached 151, records from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) showed.
The Provincial Board on Friday passed a resolution placing 11 towns under a state of calamity.
These towns were Cuartero, Dao, Dumalag, Dumarao, Maayon, Mambusao, Panay, Panitan, Pontevedra, Sigma and Tapaz.
The local governments were allowed to use their respective Calamity Funds for relief operations and other disaster-related expenses.
Tropical depression “Quinta” was the last weather disturbance that hit the Philippines this year, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.
