Volunteers load food supplies onto a PAF helicopter for delivery to remote Aeta villages in Botolan, Zambales on Sunday, Sept. 6 (PDRRMO photo)
BOTOLAN, Zambales — Eleven Aeta communities in the remote eastern part of Botolan, Zambales received food provisions on Sunday, September 6, as the provincial government resupplied isolated upland villages reeling from the effects of continuous “habagat” rains.
Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said a total of 2,519 families in the 11 “Baytan” (eastern) villages of Botolan received a total of 4,564 cartoons of family food packs under relief operations conducted jointly by the provincial government and the Botolan local government unit (LGU).
The supplies for nine Baytan communities were airlifted by the Philippine Air Force (PAF), while those for two other Aeta villages were delivered via carabao-drawn carts.
Ebdane said Sunday’s relief operation was in response to the immediate needs of Aeta communities that mostly relied on farming for livelihood, but couldn’t bring products to lowland markets due to inclement weather.
The villages of Villar, Moraza, Belbel, Burgos, Nacolcol, Palis, Maguisguis, Cabatuan, Owaog Nebloc, Malomboy, and Poonbato are located from 25 to 30 kilometers away from the town proper.
The relief operation was supervised by Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) head Rolex Estella and Botolan MDRRMO head Andy Divino in coordination with Maj. Michael Vincent Perandos, acting deputy group commander of the PAF, and LTC Mark Anthony Ruelos, commander of the Philippine Army’s 69th Infantry Battalion in Zambales.
Estella said they established separate landing sites in the villages of Villar, Poonbato, and Cabatuan, so that residents from neighboring could also receive the airlifted supplies.
The relief operation on Sunday took more than seven hours, Estella said.
Beneficiaries included 250 families in Villar, 158 in Moraza, 150 in Belbel, 280 in Burgos, 300 in Maguisguis, 308 in Poonbato, 356 in Cabatuan, 200 in Palis, 280 in Nacolcol, 197 in Owaog Nebloc, and 40 in Malomboy.
Estella said continuous heavy rains had made the upland barangays inaccessible due to strong river current at the Bucao River and its two tributaries that drain from Mount Pinatubo.
Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and PDRRMO Head Rolex Estella monitor the situation at the Bucao River in Botolan, Zambales on Friday, Sept. 4 (ZFTP photo)
Last Friday, September 4, Gov. Ebdane ordered the PDRRMO and municipal disaster management officials to closely watch lahar channels in the province after a forecast of more heavy rainfall from the southwest monsoon.
Zambales was placed under a state of calamity on August 19 after sustaining more than P591.98 million in damages to agriculture and infrastructure from the combined effects of habagat and tropical cyclones.