The entire province of Oriental Mindoro will be placed under a new state of calamity following nearly one billion pesos in damage caused by Typhoon Opong, Governor Humerlito Dolor announced.

“Halos P1 Bilyong halaga ng agrikultura ang nawasak gaya ng mga palay at saging,” (Almost 1 billion pesos worth of agriculture was destroyed, such as rice and bananas), Dolor said in a Facebook post Monday.

“241 daan ang tahanang nawasak at 2,300 ang napinsalang tahanan sa lalawigan,” the governor added.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) recommended lifting the existing state of calamity declared in July 2025 and declaring a new one to facilitate the immediate release of relief funds, according to Resolution No. 04, Series of 2025, approved September 28, 2025.

Typhoon Opong, which struck the province last week, affected more than 200,000 residents in 355 barangays, according to damage reports dated September 28.

Official figures show agricultural losses amounting to P895 million pesos, while infrastructure damage reached P145.5 million pesos.

The PDRRMC reported 5,168 houses damaged — including 618 totally destroyed.

“Dahil dito, ayon na rin sa rekomendasyon ng PDRRMC, agad tayong lumiham sa Sangguniang Panlalawigan upang ideklara ang State of Calamity sa lalawigan,” (Because of this, and also according to the recommendation of the PDRRMC, we immediately wrote to the Provincial Board to declare a State of Calamity in the province), Dolor said.

Some 60,183 families or 207,323 individuals were affected by the typhoon, with 15,611 families seeking temporary shelter in evacuation centers and 7,273 families staying with relatives.

The governor said the declaration would enable access to calamity and quick response funds “para sa pagsasaayos ng mga nasira at pagbibigay ng tulong sa ating mga kababayan na labis na naapektuhan at nawalan ng kabuhayan” (for repairing what was damaged and providing assistance to our brethren who were greatly affected and lost their livelihoods).

Oriental Mindoro is already recovering from the July 2025 state of calamity declaration following Typhoon Emong and enhanced Southwest Monsoon effects.

Photos courtesy of Dragon Fruit Ladies Official