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BCDA rises to the occasion
Author: BCDA
Posted: October 28, 2009 | Category: SCTEX
The recent typhoons that wreaked havoc in Luzon and many other parts of the country highlighted the significance of all-weather roadways like the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) in delivering much-needed relief and rehabilitation services to hard-hit areas.
While most road networks were either blocked by pockets of landslides or went underwater and rendered impassable even by passenger buses and other heavy duty vehicles, travel along the SCTEX remained unimpeded, enabling rescue and relief workers to reach their target destinations with minimum delay.
Vehicles transporting relief goods and volunteer workers to the disaster sites were also able to expeditiously shuttle back and forth along the SCTEX even as some towns and cities in Central and Northern Luzon regions were still inundated due to the continuous rains spawned by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng that swept the country early this month.
Retired BGen. Robert Gervacio, SCTEX program manager for operational support services and concurrent spokesman, said help from Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Clark Freeport Zone immediately reached the provinces of Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Tarlac, Benguet, Pampanga and Bulacan and Baguio City because of the SCTEX.
“The impact of the prompt arrival of relief and rehabilitation workers, along with the relief goods, at the disaster areas can never be quantified in terms of human lives saved and other benefits to help ease the pain and sufferings of the typhoon victims,” Gervacio stressed.
Among the early contingents of relief and rescue workers to have reached the submerged communities in Dagupan City and the towns of Mangaldan and San Fabian in Pangasinan were elements of the Philippine National Red Cross chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon.
SBMA chair Armand Arreza also mobilized teams to help in packaging food items and other relief goods for various evacuation centers and villagers isolated by the floods, landslides and mudflows.
Aside from donating cash and relief goods, locators in Clark and Subic also deployed some of their personnel as volunteers to the relief and evacuation centers.
While most road networks were either blocked by pockets of landslides or went underwater and rendered impassable even by passenger buses and other heavy duty vehicles, travel along the SCTEX remained unimpeded, enabling rescue and relief workers to reach their target destinations with minimum delay.
Vehicles transporting relief goods and volunteer workers to the disaster sites were also able to expeditiously shuttle back and forth along the SCTEX even as some towns and cities in Central and Northern Luzon regions were still inundated due to the continuous rains spawned by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng that swept the country early this month.
Retired BGen. Robert Gervacio, SCTEX program manager for operational support services and concurrent spokesman, said help from Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Clark Freeport Zone immediately reached the provinces of Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Tarlac, Benguet, Pampanga and Bulacan and Baguio City because of the SCTEX.
“The impact of the prompt arrival of relief and rehabilitation workers, along with the relief goods, at the disaster areas can never be quantified in terms of human lives saved and other benefits to help ease the pain and sufferings of the typhoon victims,” Gervacio stressed.
Among the early contingents of relief and rescue workers to have reached the submerged communities in Dagupan City and the towns of Mangaldan and San Fabian in Pangasinan were elements of the Philippine National Red Cross chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon.
SBMA chair Armand Arreza also mobilized teams to help in packaging food items and other relief goods for various evacuation centers and villagers isolated by the floods, landslides and mudflows.
Aside from donating cash and relief goods, locators in Clark and Subic also deployed some of their personnel as volunteers to the relief and evacuation centers.
