As of 8:00AM Wednesday, January 22, 2020, two (2) road sections in Batangas, particularly Tanauan – Talisay – Tagaytay Road and Talisay – Laurel – Agoncillo Road, are still on lockdown following the advice of local government units (LGUs).
As a safety precaution for personnel, clearing of ashfall, hauling of ashes, and pruning of trees on road sections are being implemented outside the 14-kilometer radius danger zone while clearing operations in areas within the danger zone were temporarily suspended.
Deployed manpower and equipment on both road sections are on standby at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 3rd District Engineering Office (DEO) to resume rescue and clearing operations.
In the meantime, a total of 499 personnel and 103 equipment deployed by DPWH DEOs in Region 4-A are providing necessary assistance, including transportation of relief goods to evacuation centers of areas affected.
Other DPWH offices, namely DPWH National Capital Region (NCR), Regional Office I, II, III, IV-B, VIII, X and Central Office are also still active in their assistance in the rescue and evacuation operations in focal areas affected such as San Nicolas, Talisay, Balete, Agoncillo, Tanauan, and Laurel.
Among the recent assistance provided were six (6) units of portable toilets from DPWH NCR ready for deployment in Tanauan Evacuation Center and three (3) units of water trucks from DPWH Regional Office VIII bound to three (3) different evacuation centers in Tanauan, San Pascual and Sta. Rosa.
DPWH officials, led by Secretary Mark A. Villar, earlier received 7,000 pieces of N95 masks from the Chinese Embassy to be donated to affected residents and used by deployed DPWH workers in the clearing, evacuation, and relief operations.
All road sections in NCR, Regions III, and IV-B were reported to be passable to all types of vehicles.