OFFICE of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator Raymundo Ferrer has been unceremoniously removed from office by Malacañang and replaced by former Bureau of Customs executive Ariel Nepomuceno on Thursday.

Ferrer, who was in Misamis Occidental supervising the government relief operations, had to leave to attend the turnover ceremony at the Department of National Defense at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

“The Office of the Civil Defense welcomes its new administrator, Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno. As a seasoned public servant, Usec. Nepomuceno brings to OCD his years of administrative experience as well as the drive to further push the national resilience agenda to safeguard Filipino communities against the threats of disaster,” the OCD said in a statement.

Nepomuceno was among the BOC officials tagged by former Senator Panfilo Lacson in the ‘tara’ or bribe money scandal in 2017.

Then presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Nepomuceno and the BOC officials were cleared of the allegations.

The relief of Ferrer did not sit well among the non-government organizations and civic clubs who have already coordinated their relief operations with the OCD in Misamis Occidental.

“The relief order was untimely because Ferrer (has) been doing a good job coordinating with us. Sayang,” Charlito Manlupig, president of the Balay Mindanao Foundation Inc, said.

Balay Mindanaw is distributing SkyHydrants, a water filtration system donated by Disaster Aid Australia, to the flood-stricken province of Misamis Occidental.

Manlupig said Ferrer who has long experience dealing with NGOs and civic clubs, has made relief operations easier in coordination with the local government.

The province of Misamis Occidental is among the hardest hit by the rains and flashflood triggered by the shear line, a weather disturbance, according to the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council in Northern Mindanao.

At least 19 died while two persons were still missing when flash floods inundated Oroquita City and the towns of Aloran, Clarin, Jimenez, and Tudela.

The RDRRMC-10 also recorded three deaths in Misamis Oriental and 2 in Bukidnon bringing the total number of dead to 24, as of 3 pm, Thursday.

The cities of Ozamiz, Oroquita including the town of Sinacaban in Misamis Occidental; and Gingoog City and the towns of Medina and Talisayan in Misamis Oriental have declared a “ state of calamity.”

Many of these cities and towns have gone waterless since Christmas Eve posing major health risks to its residents, the regional disaster relief operations center said.

More than 20,406 families or 88,744 individuals have been affected by the flash floods and have to spend Christmas Eve in the evacuation centers.