Palace defends typhoon briefing timing

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque defended the decision to hold a briefing on Super Typhoon Rolly on the same day it made landfall, stating it was necessary to communicate the government's readiness to provide aid.

Roque mentioned that Cabinet officials attended the briefing on Sunday to give updates on government preparations, explaining that it was held on Sunday because that was the day the typhoon made landfall.

President Rodrigo Duterte was not in the Sunday briefing because it was a holiday and he was in Davao, but he was scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of affected areas, depending on safety approvals.

The public saw live video footage of Duterte for the first time in three months during a situationer briefing on Monday, November 2, where he met with Cabinet members to discuss the aftermath of the storm.

During the Monday briefing, which lasted for about 3 hours, Duterte asked heads of departments and agencies to report on their efforts, with most of these reports being updates on what had been shared earlier in a press briefing led by Roque.

At least 20 people were confirmed dead due to Super Typhoon Rolly.