Navy ship to ferry people out of Tacloban to Cebu

From the Manila Bulletin (Nov 12): Navy ship to ferry people out of Tacloban to Cebu

The Central Command (CentCom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday announced that a navy ship will be deployed to Tacloban to ferry people who want to get out of the city and go to Cebu.

A source from CentCom said the Navy‘s LC550 will be used to transport passengers from Tacloban to Cebu. The vessel has the capacity to accommodate up to 1,500 people.

People who want to board the navy ship will have to line up at the Tacloban port because the boarding will be on a first come, first serve basis.

The AFP is deploying the Navy ship following thousands of requests from local residents wanting to board the C-130 cargo planes flown by the Philippine Air Force to bring relief goods to Tacloban.

The C-130 planes, said the AFP, are strictly for transporting relief goods and ferrying of military personnel from Cebu to Tacloban City and vice versa. The AFP said, though, that it will prioritize sick and wounded persons due for treatment in Cebu City on board C-130 aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) has declared the entire Cebu province under a state of calamity after super typhoon Yolanda struck the Visayas region.

It was the second declaration the PB made in less than 30 days after a strong earthquake also hit Cebu last October 15.

The PB also authorized Gov. Hilario Davide III to release P23 million from the province’s calamity fund as financial assistance to local government units (LGUs) badly hit by the typhoon.

The local government units (LGUs) of Bantayan, Madridejos, Santa Fe, Medellin, Daanbantayan, San Remigio, and Pilar towns, as well as Bogo City will get P2 million each while Poro, San Francisco, Tudela, Borbon, Tabogon, Tabuelan and Sogod will get P1 million each.

http://www.mb.com.ph/navy-ship-to-ferry-people-out-of-tacloban-to-cebu/