The province of Palawan is one of the hard-hit local government units still dealing with the aftermath of Typhoon Odette, which destroyed most dwellings and cut off water, electricity, and telecommunication cables in the province. Typhoon Odette made landfall on the municipality of Roxas, Palawan on 17 December 2021, severely affecting the city with a population of 73,541. It also hit nearby municipalities of Araceli and Dumaran.
Last 6 January 2021, the Palawan Nutrition Committee headed by Ms. Rachel Paladan, Provincial Nutrition Action Officer of Palawan and NNC MIMAROPA headed by NPC Ma. Eileen B. Blanco, convened for an updating meeting to assess which activities have already been taken and what actions are needed in response to Palawan's nutrition emergency brought by Typhoon Odette.
PNAO Paladan reported that the Provincial Nutrition Committee conducted Nutrition Initial Needs Assessment (NINA) within select barangays of the municipality of Roxas, in coordination with Municipal Administrative Officer Vic Lagera and Municipal Nutrition Action Officer Beberlita Dulay. Due to limited manpower, they have initially assessed Purok Mangingisda in Poblacion 4 and have identified four (4) moderately acute malnourished (MAM) and two (2) severely acute malnourished (SAM) children upon MUAC assessment along with the rest of undernourished based on the pre-disaster OPT data.
After the assessment, the local nutrition cluster of Palawan initiated the provision of Nutribun for 5 days, Multiple Micronutrient powder, Vitamin A, and deworming to 30 children. Nutriblend was also provided to 6-35 months old children. Also Ms. Lalaine Arzaga, representative from PSWDO Palawan, shared their initial relief report as follows; 16,059 family food packs, 2,752 sacks of rice, 1,193 packed goods, 1,950 blankets, 1,400 mats, and 1,865 towels were already distributed in response to the calamity brought by typhoon Odette.
95 percent of the houses of Barangay Nutrition Scholars have been destroyed, damaged properties which include evacuation centers, some roads are still not passable, electricity lines have not yet been restored, and the community has no available livelihood and is solely reliant on relief operations, according to the findings of the initial assessment.
At the end of the meeting, NPC Eileen stated that NNC MIMAROPA will closely coordinate this matter to the NNC Central Office, DOH MIMAROPA, and UNICEF for the provision of nutrition emergency needs of Palawan.
Written by: NO I Jhanna Camela C. Torres
