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A deadly super typhoon

Tropical cyclone Rolly, now a weaker storm, is stepping outside the Philippine area of responsibility this morning. Earlier forecast tracks suggested it could have battered the COVID-19 epicenter of Metro Manila, where a warning signal No. 4 was raised.

But it destroyed structures and homes and left more than a dozen people dead in the regions of Bicol and Calabarzon.

A crucial question

Rolly was the most powerful cyclone on earth this year and the second largest natural threat after the coronavirus pandemic—too critical an event for a president not to be visible. He was expected to least assure the public of government's preparedness. Many Filipinos did ask, where was he?

"It was a Sunday after all," his spokesperson said in Filipino, before announcing that the 75-year-old leader, who was in Davao, would conduct an aerial inspection of ravaged areas in the afternoon as he made his way back to Manila.

President Duterte's answer? He visited the dead and waited for calm. "These stupid ones are saying I wasn't there, but I was just waiting for the typhoon to pass," he said at a briefing.

Double whammy against the economy

Agriculture was being looked to as the year's once source of growth of an already battered economy, Ian Cigaral reports, but it now faces the twin trouble of a pandemic and calamity.

The agriculture department estimated P1.1 billion of agricultural losses from Rolly so far, while state socioeconomic planners are still assessing the extent of the damage.

To see the rest of our coverage, visit www.philstar.com.

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