MANILA, Philippines—Severe Tropical Storm “Maring” blew out of the Philippines Wednesday morning, a day earlier than expected, leaving 16 people dead, five missing, and more than 1 million in misery.
Although Maring (international name: Trami) never hit land, it intensified the southwest monsoon (habagat), generating torrential rains that pounded Metro Manila, Central and northern Luzon and two other regions to the south of the main island for five days.
President Aquino on Wednesday motored to Biñan and San Pedro towns in hard-hit Laguna province and Mandaluyong City to help distribute relief goods at evacuation centers.
In Biñan, the sight of streets thick with mud and strewn with storm debris greeted Aquino as he neared the evacuation center at De la Paz Main Elementary School.
More than 85,000 people (20,000 families) fled their homes at the height of the flood in Laguna, and were huddled in 49 evacuation centers, including the elementary school visited by the President.
“Of course, we saw the mud in the middle of your town. And we we’re here to offer help, and check on your needs, if any,” Aquino told the evacuees before starting to give away bags of food inside the school.
Government ready
Accompanied by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, Aquino tried to lift the evacuees’ spirits by announcing that Maring had blown out of the country and that they could expect the weather to improve soon.
“The government is ready in the face of this calamity, and rest assured we have sufficient resources to bring you back to stability soon,” Aquino told the evacuees.
In his second stop, at the Landayan covered court in neighboring San Pedro town, the President said Maring’s exit would give him and the government more time to visit thousands of other calamity victims.
“The rain that hit us was heavy. It was estimated to be equivalent to a month of rainfall,” he said.
Aquino said he was coordinating with Laguna Gov. ER Ejercito, Rep. Dan Fernandez and the mayors to help bring the calamity victims’ lives back to normal.
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