San Mateo, Rizal
July 26, 2024

“We can spend a little time [on] ways forward [and] long-term solutions because naiiba ito… This is different from anything we ever had to deal with before. That is why we have to come up with new ways to mitigate what is essentially and much harder problem than it was before,” President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. urged as he reaffirmed the Administration’s whole-of-government approach to effectively address the impact caused by Super Typhoon Carina and the enhanced southwest monsoon on the lives of many Filipinos.

During the situation briefing attended by local chief executives of Rizal, the President reiterated his directives to all concerned government agencies to expedite relief efforts in the Province, following reports on failure to deliver essential goods and services to isolated areas due to damaged and impassable roads.

According to reports, the Municipalities of San Mateo, Montalban, Cainta and Tanay experienced extensive damage, displacing many residents due to the rapid rise of floodwater in the area.

President Marcos Jr. ordered relevant government agencies, particularly the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr), to continuously monitor the level of floodwater in several affected areas to ensure swift delivery of services and basic commodities such as food, medicines and clean drinking water, especially in the far-flung communities.

“We have to get those supplies up to those people na tatlong araw na ngang hindi napuntahan. I’m always thinking ‘yung mga matatanda at mga bata, sila ang tatamaan niyan. Let us find a way to do that. You work together with the provincial government para makagawa ng paraan as quickly as we can,” he said.

Furthermore, various sectors in Rizal Province were also severely affected, particularly the agriculture sector which reported an estimated PhP17.6 million worth of damages. This includes 121.52 hectares of agricultural land affecting 684 farmers in the Province.

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