Admitting that the national calamity fund has dried up, Malacañang Thrusday asked local government units to ready their own disaster funds to address the needs of their typhoon-affected constituents.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez, also the spokesman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), said the government allotted a total of P2 billion in calamity funds but the damage brought about by natural catastrophes, including typhoons, has already exceeded P20 billion.

“Every year mayroon tayong destruction to a total of P20 billion, and P2 billion lang ang calamity fund.

Kaya nga po kinakailangan ang koordinasyon ng local government unit sa kanilang IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment).

“Sa kanilang budget, ang 5 percent po diyan puwedeng gamitin para sa calamity fund nila. So pandagdag lang iyon sa national calamity fund,” he said in an interview over radio station RMN.

He said the P2 billion national calamity fund has a lifespan of only three to four months “normally and historically.”

“Kung mapapansin nyo po simula pa lang ng rainy season sa atin ay marami na ang nangangailangan ng tulong,” the spokesman said.

He disclosed that 28 barangays in Zambales, particularly in Botolan, San Felipe and San Marcelino towns, and 17 barangays in Olongapo City were affected by the recent flooding due to heavy rains spawned by typhoon Maring.

Golez said concerned agencies, including the NDCC, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health (DoH) have given “relief of support” to areas heavily affected by the typhoon, particularly the municipal disaster coordinating council of Botolan, Zambales.

The NDCC said at least six persons were killed while three others remained missing as typhoon Maring finally left the country.

Three of the casualties reportedly drowned in Region III due to flash floods in Pampanga and Bulacan.

They were identified as seven-year-old Cladilynn Reyes from San Fernando City, Loreto Quiroz, 59, from Mexico, Pampanga, and Nica Lyn Aningo Vasquez from Pulilan, Bulacan.

Two sisters, Nerissa and Nancy Nievres, ages 3 and 2, also died in a landslide in Sitio Camcaman in Barangay Real, Calamba City in Laguna.

The National Capital Region registered a single death after a woman who was reported missing in Barangay Baesa, Quezon City was retrieved by Philippine Coast Guard divers floating in the Pasig River Thursday morning. The victim was identified as Jonalyn Bayno, 19, who reportedly fell into a creek Wednesday.

Three persons remained missing in Botolan, Zambales. They were identified as Celso and Amor Metran and Patricio Diaz, all security guards of the Diego Mining Corporation who were trapped inside a mining tunnel after a landslide.

It was also reported that more than 2,000 families were already evacuated and brought to eight designated evacuation centers in Zambales as the monsoon rains continued.

In San Mateo, Rizal, some 35 families were evacuated to safety following raging floodwaters in Barangay Banaba. They have since returned back to their homes, which according to local officials are lying on a danger zone.

Barangay Chairman Renato Sulit said the residents evacuated Thursday morning after floodwaters from the Nangka River reached their shanties following heavy rains.

Sulit said local officials have been issuing warnings about the dangers posed to riverside residents but the residents continued to disobey their calls for a permanent evacuation.