Press Release
October 4, 2009

ANGARA LAUDS AURORA EVACUATION EFFORTS

With Typhoon Pepeng forecasted to hit Aurora province, Sen. Edgardo Angara lauded his home province's evacuation efforts and intensive preparation.

Over 600 families in five coastal towns moved to higher ground Friday night as they readied to face the onslaught of Pepeng.

"Residents of the critical areas--Dipaculao, Dinalungan, Casiguran, Dilasag and Dingalan towns--were very cooperative to provincial authorities' calls for evacuation. They have learned their lesson from the major landslide that hit Aurora in 2004. Even for Ondoy my kababayans in Aurora showed alertness and a sense of bayanihan to steer clear of the onslaught," said Angara, whose family comes from Baler and has a long record of public service in the province.

In a phone interview with DZMM, Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo also praised her constituents for their prayers that Pepeng would change course. "Everyone here prayed for the typhoon to somehow weaken or change course and it's a true blessing for us that it did," she said.

Both Angara and Castillo ordered for close coordination among all local government officials to ask evacuees not to return yet to their homes and keep their emergency equipment ready. Over 2,220 people were taken to barangay halls and school buildings to avoid strong waves and floods that Pepeng would have generated.

"The provincial government has already prepared relief goods, rubber boats and rescue trucks for possible rescue work. Everyone prepared for the typhoon. The damage that Ondoy wrought in Manila last week was enough motivation for the people to unite and prepare, especially since predictions for Pepeng pointed to Aurora and the neighboring provinces," said Angara.

Previous news reports warned that Pepeng would hit Aurora first and drag on to the northern provinces of Cagayan and Isabela. Pepeng's center winds recorded a speed of 175 kilometers per hour, stronger than that of Typhoon "Karen" that hit the region in 2008.

"This shows how important it is to stay vigilant in times of natural calamities. We should closely monitor the weather's progression, and be ready for the worst. Even with Pepeng changing course, our efforts were not in vain. This is a valuable lesson in disaster preparedness," said Angara.

He further warned, "at the same time, let's be careful of irresponsible and hyped media postings, particularly on social networking sites, of unverified stories that do nothing but elicit unnecessary panic."

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