The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) shared on Sunday, January 2, the areas severely affected by Typhoon Odette that lacked media coverage despite having GMA Network being hailed as the number one service provider of news and information about the super typhoon.
According to the OPAV, Typhoon Odette had damaged a total of 95% of houses over in Trinidad, Bohol, or a total of 8,000 out of 8,700 homes. The area’s estimated population is 35,000, displacing 33,000 of its populace and affecting 9,200 families.
All towns in Southern Leyte where Odette made a heavy blow, especially San Francisco, reportedly had 100% of its people severely affected. The OPAV said that San Ricardo has minimal media coverage, where 90% of its homes are devastated.
The far-flung barangays over at Negros Oriental also lacked any media mileage. Nevertheless, the province reported 74 deaths and has affected nearly 10,000 people.
Negros Occidental, especially in Ilog and Candoni, has over 15,000 homes destroyed by Typhoon Odette, with Isabela, La Castellana, and Moises Padilla receiving “minimal assistance” from the government.
Cebu, the most affected province in the Philippines, was also included in the list that the media could not cover fully.
Could ABS-CBN be able to cover all of the regions in the Philippines?
Together with its 53 provincial television and radio stations, ABS-CBN was expected to deliver news during times of calamities. But its reach became limited when the Duterte Government shut it down back in 2020.
Vice President and presidential aspirant Leni Robredo reiterated the whims of those affected, saying that they have missed ABS-CBN’s reach.
““Ito po, very common na sinasabi sa amin na ‘wala na kasi ang ABS-CBN. So wala na sa amin ang nagco-cover. Hindi siguro nila alam na ganito kalala sa amin,'” said Robredo.
In Cebu, where ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol Central Visayas was located, a Kapamilya employee received support from colleagues and netizens after trying their best to provide media support amid the lack of resources because of the Network’s shutdown.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that the death toll due to Odette has risen to 258, with infrastructure and agriculture damages amounting to more than P3.6 billion.
Meanwhile, ABS-CBN spearheaded relief operations through its ABS-CBN Foundation for Odette victims despite being shut down.
The Network shut down exactly on May 5, 2020, displacing 11,000 Kapamilya employees during the height of the Covid-19 global pandemic.
