'Ondoy' damages reach P1 billion, companies say

Businesses in Metro Manila alone lost roughly P1 billion to the floods brought by tropical storm Ondoy, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said. The nationwide tally will be higher as the group continues to take stock of Ondoy’s impact and also looks into how supertyphoon Pepeng may have added to the toll, a ranking PCCI official said. The estimates were made after members of the country’s largest business group convened over Friday and Saturday to survey the damage wrought by record floods two weekends ago. "There were two separate meetings for [the National Capital Region chapter] and PCCI South Luzon," PCCI President Edgardo G. Lacson said in a text message on Saturday. "Caloocan, Navotas and Marikina [firms that make and trade] pulp and paper products, flour, hospital supplies and equipment and shoes suffered losses amounting to almost a billion pesos." PCCI members accounted for P600 million while the rest was incurred by unaffiliated firms, Mr. Lacson said. "[The] Bicol [chapter] has reported that Ondoy spared the province but Pepeng hit it and wrought damage which is still unaccounted for," he added. Another group, the Federation of Philippine Industries, was similarly undertaking a survey of the storm’s impact on its members last week. FPI President Jesus L. Arranza said in a telephone interview yesterday that the federation reckoned 5-10% of its membership had been hurt by floods. No damage estimates, however, were available. "About 30 companies in Pasig, Marikina and Cainta were affected, just a small part of the totality," he said, with facilities taking the brunt of the damage. "But we are trying our best to retool to keep supplies sufficient." Asked whether the group had any requests to government, Mr. Arranza replied, "We don’t have any. A lot of us are insured and we don’t want to burden the government already saddled with problems." The federation previously reported that steel and glass processors located along the Pasig river had been flooded. Factories of other businesses such as Unilever Philippines and Alaska Milk Corp. were also reported to have shelved production to make way for cleanup operations. Other firms, meanwhile, had said business slowed as employees could not come to work. To help firms cope, the PCCI will be releasing a P5-million fund made up of members’ contributions for rehabilitation and livelihood projects, Mr. Lacson said. "A final listing of specific companies, mainly micro, small and medium enterprises, eligible for financial assistance from the chamber will be made on Monday. The area vice-presidents and local chambers will determine the recipients and supervise the livelihood fund releases. Hopefully the entire program will be carried out this week," he said. - Jessica Anne D. Hermosa, BusinessWorld