Bago tumuloy ng Biliran nagsagawa muna si Duterte ng aerial inspection sa mga lugar na sinalanta ni Urduja.
Sa isang briefing mula sa Biliran, sinabi ni Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque na nakipagpulong si Duterte kasama ang halos lahat ng kanyang Gabinete sa mga lokal na opisyal ng Biliran.
“He of course, condoled with the victims of typhoon Urduja and pledged that govt will do everything it can to help Biliran rise again,” sabi ni Roque.
Idinagdag ni Roque na partikular na inatasan ni Duterte ang Department of Trade Industry (DTI) para imonitor ang pagtaas ng presyo.
“He directed the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) to finish the two bridges that were damaged in Naval Biliran lesser than 30 days…He asked DOTR (Department of Transportation) for updates. He was informed the airport in Tacloban is functioning as well as the airport in Ormoc and both airports only suffered minor damage,” ayon pa kay Roque.
Ayon pa kay Roque, inatasan ni Duterte ang Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) para paigtingin ang isinasagawang rescue operation sa mga nawawala pa rin.
Kasabay nito, kinondena ni Duterte ang pag-atake ng New People’s Army (NPA) sa mga sundalo na nagsasagawa ng humanitarian work sa Samar.
“He reiterated that this is the reason why he has opted to cease all talks with the NPA,” sabi ni Roque.
Kasabay nito, sinabi ni Roque na magbibigay ng P25,000 pautang para sa mga magsasaka.
“There was also some discussion on the possibility of having to rethink the crops of Biliran, pinpointing to the experience of Magpet in Mindanao. Magpet changed from rice to rubber, also stressed that with climate change, perhaps Biliran should consider shifting to coconut and cacao,” sabi pa ni Roque.
Inihayag din na tinatayang 25,000 food packs ang parating na, 15,000 ay mula sa Cebu and 10,000 ay mula sa Tacloban.
“The mayors in the open forum expressed concern that it was not just Naval that suffered damage, the other municipalities suffered damage again and the president asked them to submit a list of projects they would need for their respective municipalities,” dagdag ni Roque.
Nagbabala naman si Grace Casil, mayor ng Biliran, na aabot na lamang kahapon ang suplay ng pagkain sa Biliran.
“The President said that if the supply don’t come soon enough, he will order the Air Force to airlift food supplies,” ayon pa kay Roque.