Mandaluyong Crisis Center Set Up for Flood Victims
Villar-led rescue effort continues; Over 1,300 victims so far rescued

Emergency and rescue teams deployed by the Office of Senator Manny Villar as early as Saturday afternoon have so far brought to safety over 1,300 victims of flooding caused by Typhoon Ondoy.

The victims were rescued from their submerged homes, flooded streets and places of work and ferried by large trucks to safe and dry areas.

From early afternoon of Saturday up to 7AM Sunday, the Office of Senator Villar has sent out 26 large trucks to flood-affected areas in Metro Manila and as far as Cainta and Antipolo City. Early this moring, five more large trucks were deployed for additional rescue operation.

The rescue teams were divided into four groups, which penetrated the flooded areas of Antipolo, Pasig-Ortigas Extension, Cainta and Marikina-Marcos Highwasy (Group A); Sampaloc, Sta. Ana, Sta. Mesa in Manila, Araneta Ave, San Francisco Del Monte, Roxas District in Quezon City, San Juan and Mandaluyong (Group B); Commonwealth, Tandang Sora, Novaliches, Monumento, Camanava, San Mateo, Montalban in Rizal (Group C); and, Baclaran and Sucat in Paranaque, Pasay, Las Pinas, Laguna and Cavite (Group D)

The Villar rescue teams are also trying to get choppers and more pump boats to reach more affected areas.

Some of the rescued typhoon victims were brought to evacuation centers in SM Centerpoint, San Beda, UST, Central Colleges of the Philippines and Jose Rizal University.

Food rations were also delivered to the evacuation centers from a distribution network also set up by the Office of Senator Villar at the height of the typhoon Saturday.

Villar said the next challenge is to bring food and dry clothings fast to victims who were still stranded at the rooftops of their homes since Saturday.

He said vehicles at their distribution centers are also on standby to help deliver food rations and food donations from government relief centers and other groups so that they could be transported fast to affected areas.

"We're coordinating with other government agencies and are making our large trucks and other vehicles available to help in the delivery of food to flood victims," Villar said.

The rescue and relief efforts of Office of Senator Villar are being coordinated by a Typhoon Crisis Center activated since Saturday, located at the Worldwide Corporate Center in Mandaluyong.

The crisis center could be reached at the following hotline numbers: 0917-4226800, 0917-2414864 and 0927-675 1981.