The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) has assured that all government agencies are on alert in addressing the needs and concerns of families affected by the onslaught of Super Typhoon Carina and enhanced southwest monsoon or habagat, particularly those in the hard-to-reach areas.

At the Bagong Pilipinas interview on Thursday, PCO Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson for Natural Calamities and Disaster Joey Villarama said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed relevant government agencies to focus on areas most affected by the heavy rains and massive flooding.

“Ang gusto talaga ng Pangulo i-emphasize or i-reemphasize iyong directive niya na kailangang i-assess iyong particular situation sa mga apektadong lugar para malaman iyong (What the President really wants to emphasize or reemphasize in his directive is that it is necessary to assess the particular situation in the affected areas to know the) particular need,” Villarama said, adding that “So, kailangan (it need to be) tailored specifically to the needs of the people”.

The President has already given specific instructions to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) including the local governments, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), and the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Special focus is also directed towards the National Capital Region (NCR) and provinces and areas placed under the State of Calamity and were hard-hit such as the Region III and the Calabarzon area or Region IV-A, Mimaropa or Region IV-B and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), the Caraga Region, areas in Visayas and Mindanao, including hard-to-reach or inaccessible areas.

Villarama said the President wanted specific actions for the specific needs of the people.

Meanwhile, Villarama called on the public to learn from these experiences and incidents and to become climate-resilient.

“We have lessons to learn from pero kailangan talaga iyong resilience aside from the preparedness ang kailangan na paigtingin pa natin at hindi lang magagawa iyan ng gobyerno alone, kailangan din talaga ng tulong ng ating mga mamamayan (but we really need that resilience aside from the preparedness that we need to intensify and that could not be done by the government alone, we also really need the help of our citizens),” he said. (PNA)