PASACAO, Camarines Sur — The visit of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo here to distribute relief aid and hand out cash benefits to families of death victims magnified the sorry state of Camarines Sur in the aftermath of super typhoon Reming.

        Though short and fleeting, Gov. LRay Villafuerte and the rest of the provincial, municipal, and barangay officials of all affected areas took the rare chance to huddle with the president and gave her the real state of the destruction in the province that virtually wiped out P1 billion worth of infrastructure and investments in agriculture that left 736, 725 persons homeless and without source of livelihood.

        Accompanied in this trip by Vice President Noli de castro, DBM Secretary Nonoy Anday, Gina de Venecia, general Hermogenes Esperon, AFP Chief of Staff and Dato Arroyo, her youngest child and himself aspiring to represent the first district of Camarines Sur in Congress along with the usual coterie of cabinet assistants and Malacañang aides, the president was able to commiserate with some of the worst hit victims especially those who lost family members to the merciless storm wherein she gave out P5,000 cash benefit for each of the 33 deaths as per verified records with the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC).

        Out of 35 towns and one city comprising Camarines Sur, 32 Municipal Disaster Coordinating Councils (MDCCs) and the City of Iriga have submitted reports of damage wherein 522 out of 1,036 barangays were severely affected with 150,060 families directly affected by the typhoon. Some 70,924 houses were totally damaged with 91,534 having been partially destroyed.

        As of the latest tally, 49 have been confirmed dead with 128 persons injured.

        Estimated damages to agriculture specifically to rice, corn, coconut and high value crops stand at P434,480M; livestock and poultry at P56M; and fishery at P15,500M. For damages to infrastructure, roads and bridges cost P50,085M; school buildings highest at P340,645M; and ports and wharves at P31,800M.

        Soon after the storm, Gov. LRay immediately ordered the release of emergency 10,000 food packs to the towns of Baao, Pasacao, Libmanan, Tinambac, Pili, Presentacion, Nabua, Bato, Milaor, and Buhi as reports of damages came filtering back to the PDCC nerve center. The relief operation by the provincial government continues as of this time.