Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas sent 150 members of the Philippine National Police to Tacloban today via C130 aircraft, according to a statement posted at the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.
To help in the clearing operations in Samar being conducted by 100 troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, 50 more troops will also be assigned today in the said province.
Meanwhile, the Official Gazette also said that Regional Consular Offices (RCOs) of the Department of Foreign affairs will resume its operations tomorrow, November 11, in the provinces of Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Butuan, Legazpi, Lucena, Lipa, and Puerto Princesa after a temporary suspension on November 8-9 brought about by the threat of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan).
To ensure safety of passport applicants, structural integrity assessments of the RCOs were said to have been conducted prior to the decision to resume operations.
RCO Tacloban City, however, hasn’t resumed its operations yet as of Friday, as DFA will still have to conduct a thorough damage assessment as well as make way for appropriate measures for the immediate resumption of operations. For emergency travel requests of passport applicants in Tacloban City, you may get in touch with RCO Tacloban at 0939-712-8627.
DFA advises passport applicants in Tacloban to stand by for further announcements, including those in nearby municipalities and provinces. You may also contact the RCOs at the numbers given below.
RCO Tacloban (053) 321-8233
RCO Legazpi (052) 480-3000
RCO Cebu (032) 520-5898
RCO Bacolod (034) 441-2675
RCO Iloilo (033) 337-8017
RCO Lipa (043) 722-0578
RCO Lucena (042) 710-4526
RCO Butuan (085) 342-7822
RCO Puerto Princesa (048) 434-1773
