A plea for help

THE newly activated Typhoon Reming Multi-Sectoral Relief and Rehabilitation Task Force met for the first time this morning, and issued the following plea for help. I am reproducing the letter in its entirety:

TO OUR FELLOWMEN:

Greetings from the people of Naga City.

Super Typhoon Reming struck Naga on November 30, 2006, causing widespread damage to private dwellings, crops and livestock, public schools, farm-to-market roads, health and community centers, the city’s waste management facilities, as well as to power, telecommunications and water utilities. As of this writing, total damage is estimated to have reached P187.5 million.

In response to the massive destruction previously unseen hereabouts, the local private sector have volunteered their services in the relief and rehabilitation effort fielding manpower and resources in support of the city government’s own relief and rehabilitation activities.

Notwithstanding this local public-private partnership, the damage wrought by Super Typhoon Reming, which came just weeks after Typhoon Milenyo, is of such magnitude as to dwarf the joint capacity of the city government and the private sector, already sapped by the previous typhoon, to effectively respond to the relief and rehabilitation requirements of the city.

Toward this end, we have created the Typhoon Reming Multi-Sectoral Relief and Rehabilitation Task Force to lead Naga’s rebuilding efforts. Through this non-partisan government-private-civil society initiative, may we therefore request your kind office to join hands with us in:

1. Extending immediate relief assistance to affected households particularly in terms of various housing materials (especially nipa, GI sheet, or plastic sheeting for roofing, water containers for potable water storage, non-perishable food items);

2. Rehabilitating vital public infrastructure facilities, particularly the following:
- School buildings (estimated damage: P30.5 million)
- Farm-to-market roads (estimated damage: P10 million)
- Barangay health centers (estimated damage: P20 million)
- Barangay daycare centers (estimated damage: P15 million)
- Naga City Materials Recovery Facility (estimated damage: P15 million)
- Barangay multi-purpose halls (estimated damage: P27 million);
- Various city government offices and facilities (estimated damage: P10 million); and

3. Reviving agricultural crops and livestock (estimated damage: P10 million excluding damage caused by Typhoon Milenyo).

Your immediate assistance will go a long way in alleviating the suffering of our people and in restoring our city back to being one of the key drivers in Bicol’s economic growth.

Dios mabalos!

Very truly yours,

FR. J. NELSON TRIA, Chair, Typhoon Reming Multi-Sectoral Relief and Rehabilitation Task Force

JESSE M. ROBREDO, City Mayor

A PDF copy of the letter can be downloaded here.