Pangasinan Rapid Assessment Report
Date: October 15-17, 2009
Overview of the Situation in Pangasinan
Tropical storm Parma with local name “Pepeng” struck the Philippines on October 3,
2009. The devastating super typhoon directly hit 5 regions including the Cordillera
Administrative Region in Northern Luzon. Parma brought heavy rains triggering
flooding and landslides in these regions as per NDCC report about 2,267,527 people
have been affected by typhoon Parma with 193 casualties and 46 people who are still
missing
On October 9, 2009 the day Parma left the Philippines, 5 giant dams in Northern
Luzon reached critical level and released water to maintain its normal water level.
The damaged brought by Typhoon Parma was further compounded by the water
from the dams. The increased flooding in already flooded areas in Pangasinan, La
Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Tarlac, Pampanga and Bulacan sent over 100,000
people in evacuation camps.
Pangasinan particularly was severely affected by the heavy rains and flooding, the
4,000 cubic meter of water released per second from San Roque dam 1of 12 the
largest dam in the world and 4 of the largest in Asia on October 9, 2009 has
submerged 80% of Pangasinan province. The water from the dam which found its
way into the swollen Agno River flowed to the town centers and caused several
dikes in the municipalities to cave leading to more flooding. The Provincial
Government reported 180,976 families or 918,252 people who were affected by the
floods. 952 were evacuated. In the Municipality of Bayambagng families sought shelter
in public facilities such as schools, basketball courts, and municipal / barangay halls. .
In the flood-affected villages of Villasis, families sought refuge on rooftops or in
neighbor’s houses. Flood waters in low-lying and riverside villages rapidly rose to as
high as 10 feet.
Northern Luzon is once again threatened by another tropical storm. Typhoon Lupit
(Ramil) has been spotted by PAGASA moving Northwest of Quezon province and
forecasted to be moving towards north Luzon within the next 48 hours.
Save the Children Assessment Team
On October 15-17, 2009 Save the Children sent an assessment team of 5 staff to
Pangasinan to assess the situation and the needs of the affected children, families and
communities, and propose a set of interventions to immediately alleviate the
suffering of the children and their families. The team discussed its objectives and
purpose of the visit with local officials, who recommended heavily affected
municipalities to be visited. Both Provincial and Municipal Governments provided the
team with reports on the Parma emergency, photos and staff as guides and who
provided Save the Children with assistance in introducing the team to other contacts
in the community and in the distribution of NFIs in one village.
I Areas Visited
Area Visited
Population Total
number of
people
affected by
emergency
Municipality of
92,400
90,391
Magaldan
individuals or
18,077
families
829
Dead
Number of Damaged
people in
House
Evacuation
Center
Washed
out
Homes
10 adults
2
children
72
(returned)
54
0
18
0
53
20
21
20
5,423
132
Barangay
Nibaliw
Municipality of
Bayambang
2,561
94,885
19,376
5
Barangay
Bacnono
406
1,695
3 adults
Municipality of
Villasis
168,797
33,768
Barangay Lipay
1,700
1,700
0
11
2
724 (75% of
the families
have gone
home)
100
14, 273
(more than
half of them
have already
started
going home)
II Key Findings
Child Protection
 There were no reported cases of children being separated from their families.
There were instances when the children had to be evacuated first during the
evacuation process with one of their parents staying behind. Eventually, the
families were reunited with their parents in the evacuation centers.
 Prior to the flooding children as young as 7 years old engaging in scavenging and
begging to support their families. Children gather scrap materials (e.g. bottles,
metal scraps, plastic containers, etc.) to sell in junk shops they engage in this type
of work for three to four hours a day and earn about Php 30 to 40 a day.
Younger ones are begging in the town center or in the public market. In Nibaliw
10 of the 33 Grade 1students were reported to be begging in the public market.
 The current situation of children can further worsen as a result of the floods,
with many families losing their meager belongings and having no regular source of
income.
 Children who are already working might be forced to work longer hours and
those who were not working might eventually engage in some form of work or
labor

Collapsed part of the dike and the artificial lagoon that was formed pose safety
risks to children particularly in Barangay Lipay in Bayambang
 Older children take care of younger ones while parents are sorting out whatever
was left at home.
 It would take time to heal the traumatic experience that families have gone
through during the flooding. Parents and children expressed fear over
information that the dam will release water.
 There is also a lot of anxiety about the loss of possessions and the uncertainty of
what lies ahead for their families and their children.
Education
 Schools have remained closed since the typhoon struck the province, but are
expected to resume classes on October 19, 2009.
 There is no physical damage of schools despite being submerged in about 3 to 4
feet of flood water. Some areas in the school are still caked in thick mud as deep
as half a foot, particularly those in Nibaliw, Magaldan and San Blas, Vilasis. A
thorough cleaning of school classrooms and its surroundings is urgent to prepare
them for the resumption of classes.
 All teaching / instructional materials, text books and the children’s notebooks
and other school materials were also submerged in flood waters and are no
longer usable. These materials need to be replaced
 The artesian well which supplies water to the school was also submerged in
flood waters. Water coming from the well has not yet been tested.
 Stagnant water has also accumulated in the back of the school compound.
Garbage is not properly disposed of and continues to pile up behind one of the
classrooms. All these pose health risks among the school children and teachers.
 Children missed classes for more than two weeks now. The need to support
children to go back to school in terms of providing them replacement of lost
school materials and supplies such as note pads, pencils, school bags, school
uniforms and school meals was verbalized by mothers.
 Teachers expect that many of their students, especially those coming from very
poor families, might not be able to go back to school on 12 October 2009.
There is also a risk that some might drop out of school and work longer hours
to earn money for their school supplies as well as for their families’ needs.
 The Public School in Puelay in Bayambang needs to be cleaned and cleared of
debris and garbage. The perimeter fence of this school needs to be restored.
This is the school that is right next to one of the dikes that collapsed.
Health/Nutrition
 All the barangays visited have Rural Health Units managed by a Midwife assisted
by a team of Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) BHWS reported that the health
centers were flooded with 10ft of flood water. Health centers were not
functional from October 3-6 but the health teams were providing support to
health needs of the affected population specially those who had fever and
diarrhea.
 Health Centers lost basic supplies and materials such as medicines, weighing
scales, examining kits and many of its health education materials. Community
volunteers have started to clean the health center. Immediate replacement of
basic supplies and materials is needed to cater to the increasing health needs of
the affected population after the flooding.

The health center is gearing up with Garantisadong Pambata a program which
provides immunization, feeding vitamin A supplementation and deworming to
children 5 and below. This program is supported by the LGU.s The BHWs are
worried that funding for this activity will be diverted to support the basic needs
of a larger population affected by the floods.
 There were cases of diarrhea amongst children ages 11mos. – 6 years old. 20
cases were reported by the BHWs in barangays Nibaliw, 2 in Bacnono and 3 in
Lipay. All children responded to the oral rehydration solutions provided by the
BHWs, except for an 18 month old child who died of severe dehydration in the
evacuation center in barangay Lipay. There is no diarrhea outbreak in the villages
visited by the team.
 Residents in barangay Nibaliw complain of increasing cases of fungal infections
particularly amongst children who are always playing with flood waters. Cough
and colds amongst adults and children was reported by one resident in Barangay
Lipay. These are families whose houses have been washed away and currently
living in makeshift accommodations in community. The families sleep in cold
scrap tin roofing of damaged their damaged house.
 Target for measles immunization have not been met.
 Mobile Health teams are available but health surveillance is absent.
Shelter/Food security and NFIs
 Total houses damaged in the municipalities of Magaldan, Bayambang and Vilasis is
5,530 these are mostly made of light materials. Total number of houses washed
out by floods is 152; these are families from barangays Lipay and Bacnono where
most of the dikes were broken .Families who have no houses to go back to are
staying in evacuation centers or staying with host families. Some 17 families in
Lipay opted to start making provisionary dwellings made of scrap materials from
houses destroyed in the community. The 152 families need relocation since their
areas of residence is no longer safe for them to stay.
 The villages of Nibaliw, Bacnoo and Lipay are agricultural areas. Rice is a major
cash crops and livestock consisting of large animals like cows and carabaos and
ruminants which includes goats, pigs and chicken provides additional income to
the families. Half of the families particularly those who have no land to till are
engaged in buy and sell business most men from this group are tricycle drivers.
The massive flooding hurt the economy of these barangay. Rice which is
scheduled to be harvested in October and November was destroyed and most
farmers have debts to pay for expenses they incurred in soil preparation and
planting. Some farmers have started harvesting their rice but because the rice
was soaked in water farmers are not too sure if they can still make money out of
it. Some 200 cows drowned in barangays, Bacnoo and Nibaliw floods along with
small animals.
 LGUs estimate that it will take at least 1 to 2 years to completely rehabilitate the
farming sector in areas affected by the floods in Pangasinan. The flooding will
definitely affect families in an even more precarious situation, making it more
difficult for them to meet their families’ basic needs.
 The residents are continuously experiencing temporary hunger because of food
shortage. Families rely on the food rations and distributions from various
individuals and politicians. Though some food items such as eggs, vegetables and
meat are already available in the town centers few families have access to these
food, since the prices of these essential food items have gone up, most of the
families do not have enough cash to purchase these items. The food security of
most of the affected population is threatened if no immediate and specific
measures will be done to avert the current situation.
 There is a big need for NFIs such as cooking pots, eating utensils (drinking
glasses, forks, spoons, cups and plates) mats, blankets, tarpaulin and jerry cans
those families who lost their houses verbalized a need for clothes.
 Most of the relief items distributed by individuals and politicians consist only of
food items: two kilos of rice, 2 cans of small sardines and 3 packs of noodles.
Some Hygiene kits which included water container and water treatment kits
were at Villasis municipal hall, donated by IOM.
WASH
 All the villages visited have access to water. Water source comes from
NAWASA, Deep well and bottled water for those who can afford to buy it from
the town center.
 Hyposols have been distributed by the Rural Health Units but could not provide
everyone because of limited supply.
 Families boil their drinking water, but children refuse to drink the colored water
from the well.
 Families are drinking water from unprotected source which maybe contaminated
from flooding.
 Surface water is still visible in the villages. Stagnant water can be a breeding
ground for mosquitoes which will make residents at risk to dengue.
 Some families do not have toilets. In barangay Nibalw families use the toilets of
friends or neighbors. In other barangays one latrine is shared by13 families. Cases
of diarrhoea in the early days of the flooding were attributed to unsanitary
disposal of human waste.
Humanitarian Support in Pangasinan
 Relief support usually in the form of food items was provided by the following
individuals and groups:
- (a) Presidential Management Staff,
- (b) Senators Manny Villar and Chiz Escudero,
- (c) Provincial Government of Pangasinan,
- (d) Mayor Jejomar Binay,
- (e) Kapuso Foundation,
- (f) ABS-CBN Sagip-Kapamilya,
- (g) LTO / Stradcom Corporation,
- (h) Red Cross,
- (i) Joey de Venezia III,
- (j) Abono Party List,
- (k) Susan Roces,
- (l) Lions Club,
- (m) Office of Cong. Arenas
 While there seems to be many individuals and organizations supporting the
municipality, relief support is not well-targeted and reaches only communities
near the main roads or highways. Food items consist mainly of 2 kilos of rice, 3
packs of noodles and 2 small cans of sardines. These are not enough to meet the
nutritional needs of the people, especially the children
Distribution of NFIs in Nibaliw, Magaldan

Save the Children distributed 520 NFIs and Hygiene kits to families in barangay
Nibaliw in Magaldan
 Save the Children was provided support by the Provincial Office of DILG in
Lingayen, Municipal DSWD and the barangay officials in the actual distribution
and helped SC in managing the operation especially crowd control. The entire
operation was orderly and systematic.
 It was a rewarding activity seeing everyone happy and smiling while receiving the
commodities.
Key Recommendations
 Team’s overall recommendation is for Save the Children to respond to the needs
of affected population in the areas visited by the team. There is a great and
urgent need to restore the lifelines of the affected population in these areas.
Gaps in humanitarian assistance was shared by local officials and residents in the
barangays visited. No humanitarian organization visited these villages and no
relief items have been distributed in these interior communities.
 Geographic focus of intervention needs to be defined and specific sets of
interventions.
 Initial mix of activities for the immediate response can include: NFI, Hygiene kit ,
and back to school kits for distribution to a defined population, cash for work as
a income for identified affected families to work on a daily wage to clean schools
and its surroundings.
 Additional funding need to be continuously sourced out for this response
particularly if a medium term recovery programming will be considered.
 Multi- partnership should be pursued with Local NGOs and Local Government
as good practice in implementing successful programs of Save the Children.
Partners can also implement the post recovery programs or parts of which can
be defined by SC and the partner (s).
 Post recovery interventions needs to be discussed thoroughly within Save the
Children management aspects such as logistics (commodities supply in that
region) program management and funding are key to SC’s decision to pursue
interventions in Pangasinan.
Members of the Assessment Team
Mike Singh
Rowena Cordero
Nida Vilches
Naomi Bourne
Tony Amor