Yesterday, I and three other officials of the Department of Agriculture flew by helicopter to the fishing town of Mulanay, Quezon, an isolated fishing community which was one of those hit by Typhoon Nina.
Under normal circumstances, Mulanay would not be a destination for a top level DA team visit because there was not much report on the extent of damage the town suffered due to the typhoon.
My decision to make a quick visit to Mulanay was made because of a call from Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, a son of Mulanay, Tuesday night just after I landed in Manila from a trip to Catanduanes and Camarines Sur with President Rody Duterte.
Arriving in Mulanay using an Air Force helicopter through the help of Secretary Delfin Lorenzana of the Defense Department, I saw from the air the extent of devastation of the small fishing town.
Meeting local officials including Cong Danny Suarez and his wife, former Congresswoman Aleta, in Mulanay, I learned that many other towns of Quezon were seriously battered by the typhoon.
Away from the focus of the media, however, the people of Mulanay and the other Quezon towns would have suffered in silence, picked up the shattered pieces of their lives and move on.
I am happy that I visited Mulanay because it made me realise that there are other areas along the path of the destructive typhoon which have not been given attention yet.
Yesterday, I made a commitment to Sec. Aguirre and Cong. Suarez that I will form a team to focus on the rehabilitation of the typhoon damaged communities of Quezon province.
Arriving in Manila last night, I asked Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan to draft a Department Special Order creating the Task Force Nina which I will personally handle.
It will be composed of USec Cayanan, USec Segfredo Serrano and USec Eduardo Gongona as vice chairmen; ASec Federico Laciste, Jr., Region IV-A Director Arnel de Mesa, Region IV-B Director Cipriano Santiago, Region V Director Elena de Jesus, Finance Director Miriam Cornelio and Field Operations Director Roy Abaya as members.
The secretariat will be handled by Christopher Morales and Alberto Ocampo, Jr.
The Task Force will directly handle the formulation of programs and projects for the rehabilitation of agriculture and fisheries of the provinces o Catanduanes, Marinduque, Quezon, Camarines Sur, Albay, Batangas, Mimdoro Oriental and Mindoro Occidental.
Focal persons will be identified for each province, all of them to report directly to the Secretary so that quick decisions would be made.
Following the wish of the President, Task Force Nina will help the victims of the typhoon “recover their bearings” immediately and return to their normal lives.
(First two photos downloaded from Google shows Mulanay town; third pogo sows the DA team composed of USEC Gongona, ASEC Laciste and Director De Mesa before the 1-hour flight to Mulanay; succeeding photos show me and several others riding in the back of a pick up as we survey the damage of the typhoon in Catanduanes on Tuesday.)
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