RECONSTRUCTION BID. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro (second from left) answers queries from the media on the sidelines of the turnover of assistance to former rebels who voluntarily surrendered in the province of Apayao. Teodoro said he is taking advantage of his presence in the province to meet and discuss with officials of Apayao and Cagayan about the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s reconstruction of vital arteries damaged by super typhoon Egay in July 2023. (PNA photo by Liza T. Agoot)
LUNA, Apayao – Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Wednesday said major disaster prevention infrastructure projects will be implemented in the provinces of Apayao and Cagayan after these were greatly damaged by super typhoon Egay middle of this year.
"We need to prepare because climate change is unpredictable and is the biggest problem the local governments and the country face. It is not insurgency but climate change which has a big effect on the lives and economy,” he said Wednesday during the ceremony for the turnover of assistance to former rebels.
Teodoro said the infrastructure projects will be provided by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
He said Cagayan and Apayao, which are adjacent to each other in terms of location, needed rehabilitation and reconstruction works.
“We need to help them adequately so that if there will be another disaster, the infrastructure which was damaged will no longer be affected,” he said.
Teodoro did not give details of the possible projects but based on an earlier report of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council the damage incurred after the typhoon reached around PHP1.2 billion.
The calamity damaged roads, bridges and power lines as well as other critical facilities including educational, health, housing, and social welfare.
Among the major regional arterial roads that were damaged are the Cabugao-Pudtol-Luna-Cagayan boundary road, and Cagayan-Cabugao Apayao-Solsona Ilocos Norte road, as well as several irrigation facilities that affected the rice production of Apayao, the second rice-producing province in the Cordillera after Kalinga. (PNA)
