Relief, repair, clearing operations stepped up
ABRA was placed under as state of calamity yesterday following Wednesday’s magnitude 7 earthquake that severely affected the province.
The declaration came as authorities ramped up road-clearing operations, food distribution, repair of water distribution facilities, and restoration of power and communication lines.
The provincial council, in a resolution declaring the state of calamity, said information from the provincial disaster risk reduction and management office showed the quake has affected 80 percent of the Abra population.
It also said “major infrastructure facilities, both private and government properties, were severely damaged.” Damage to power lines, it added, caused a province-wide brownout that “paralyzed the operation of business establishments” and displaced residents without food.
The declaration means the provincial government can access its calamity fund to address the effects of the tremor.
The provincial council also requested “immediate assistance” from the national government agencies “for disaster response, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction support.”
Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and concurrent administrator of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), said many roads, mostly in worst-hit Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), remain closed to traffic as of yesterday due to debris. He said an “immediate road clearing” operation is ongoing.
He also said military aircraft will be used to deliver supplies to areas where roads are not yet passable to vehicles. At least 22 roads in CAR are still closed to traffic.
“Our priority now is life-saving, distribution of assistance to our countrymen who were displaced,” he said.
Briefing President Marcos Jr during a visit in Abra, OCD deputy administrator for operations Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said the Department of Social Welfare and Development has “a standby relief amounting to P1.3 billion, ready for augmentation.”
Alejandro said the relief operations are managed by regional and local officials and supported by national government agencies.
He said the OCD has “available stockpiles, ready for augmentation when needed.”
“The NDRRMC is continuously monitoring and on standby for specific needs that may arise… Specifically, the NDRRMC has directed its response cluster to monitor the situation, provide assistance as needed and account all actions taken,” said Alejandro.
As to communication lines, Alejandro said the Department of Information and Communications Technology is “doing restoration together with the commercial telcos.”
He said the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development is preparing shelter assistance to the quake victims while the Department of Health is providing medicines and other medical supplies to the affected local government units.
He said Japan has offered assistance in terms of search, rescue and retrieval and emergency supplies through the NDRRMC’s international humanitarian cluster led by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
DISPLACED RESIDENTS
In Abra, DND officer-in-charge and NDRRMC chairman Jose Faustino Jr said 4,969 families or 20,091 individuals in 110 barangays in CAR and Ilocos region were affected. Of the number, Faustino said 2,312 families are in evacuation centers and 413 other families are living with their relatives or living in tents.
Jalad, in a phone interview, said many residents in CAR stayed in open spaces on Wednesday night because they were “afraid” of aftershocks.
The major quake, with epicenter 3 km northwest of Tayum town, occurred at at 8:43 a.
Wednesday and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said it has recorded 887 aftershocks as of 4 p.m yesterday, ranging from magnitude 1.5 to 5. Phivolcs reported a magnitude 5.4 aftershock on Wednesday afternoon but it was later downgraded to magnitude 4.8.
Also in Abra, Phivolcs director Renato Solidum said the damaged houses should be inspected by engineers to determine if they are still safe.
“If the structures, the buildings, are declared safe, they (residents) may (return). But people should be ready how to respond properly during aftershocks because possible aftershocks are still strong,” said Solidum.
Solidum reiterated aftershocks are expected to continue in the next several weeks and will be frequent two to three days after the magnitude 7 quake.
AID
Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo, who joined President Marcos Jr. in the inspection of quake-hit towns yesterday, said in CAR, 1,000 family food packs (FFPs) have been prepositioned in Apayao; 5,816 in Abra; 1,294 in Kalinga; 1,231 in Mt. Province; 1,060 in Ifugao; and 11,328 are still available in the regional warehouse.
In the Ilocos region, 1,404 FFPs had been prepositioned in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur; 895 in Rosales, Pangasinan; 2,000 in Alaminos City, Pangasinan; 1,978 in the Police Provincial Office Lingayen, Pangasinan; 1,978 in Santa Barbara, Pangasinan; and 9,147 are in the regional warehouse.
DSWD Assistant Secretary Rommel Lopez, during the “Laging Handa” public briefing, said apart from the family food packs and non-food relief items, the department if also providing psychosocial counseling to those staying at the evacuation centers.
They are also ensured that evacuation centers have safe space for children and pregnant women
DSWD has also started the distribution of financial assistance which ranges from P5,000 to P10,000 on top of hospital and burial assistance given to those were injured and the families of those who died in the quake.
Lopez said the department has released an initial P10 million has which could be used in assisting the quake victims.
The Department of Labor and Employment is setting aside an initial P50 million to provide emergency employment to affected workers.
“Our regional directors in the affected areas in the Ilocos Region and Cordillera Administrative Region have been directed to make available to the victims, particularly the workers and their families, our emergency employment assistance,” said Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma.
He said the target beneficiaries will be provided temporary employment involving “light public works” such as street sweeping, debris cleaning, and declogging work.
“For the work done, the workers will be paid the prevailing minimum wage in their region,” said Laguesma.
Caritas Philippines, the humanitarian arm of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), on Wednesday launched its “Alay Kapwa para sa Northern Luzon” fundraising drive for quake victims.
It said donations may be sent to Metrobank, account name CBCP CARITAS FILIPINAS FOUNDATION INC. and account number 632-7-632-02719-9 or GCash through 09152094092.
FATALITIES, DAMAGE
The NDRRMC’s official death toll from the quake remained at five while the number of missing rose to 131. Four of the fatalities died in CAR and the other in the Ilocos Region.
Four are reported missing in CAR, specifically in Abra, said Jalad.
Alejandro said damage to infrastructure in the Ilocos and Central Luzon regions and the National Capital Region was at P33.8 million.
Alejandro and Jalad said rapid damage and needs assessment was ongoing as of yesterday.
“The rapid damage and needs assessment (is meant) to determine the immediate needs of the local government units so they can be given by the different government agencies,” said Jalad.
Alejandro said 61 schools and three bridges were initially reported damaged.
The NDRRMC said 867 houses were damaged and 11 others were destroyed in the quake.
The Department of Education said 8,027 schools were affected and 35 others were damaged in CAR, Region III (Central Luzon), Region II (Cagayan Valley), and Region I (Ilocos Region).
The number could increase, the DepEd said, as it is just based on initial assessment.
The DepEd placed the initial amount for the rehabilitation of the damaged schools at P228.5 million.
Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte Carpio said she has directed their regional and division coordinators in the affected areas to send updates and the actions taken.
POWER, TELCO
The Department of Energy said that as of 11 a.m. yesterday, all power generation plants in the country were under normal operations after the earthquake.
The Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) said telecom services were fully restored in strategic areas and it deployed satellite mobile phones in affected regions.
PLDT Inc and its wireless unit Smart Communication Inc. have activated three more free calls and free WiFi sites in northern Luzon.
PLDT and Smart also continued to work with local government units as they prepare to distribute relief assistance.
Globe deployed a “Libreng Tawag, Libreng Charging” and “Libreng WiFi station” in Bangued town, Abra hours after the quake.
Globe has also activated a platform through which its customers could send help. Starting today, Globe customers may convert their data into rewards points which can be donated to charities and foundations of their choice in support of quake-hit families.
Globe users – mobile prepaid and postpaid customers and home prepaid WiFi customers – can go to the Rewards section of the new GlobeOne app and tap “convert data.”
For Globe prepaid users, 1GB of data is equivalent to 1 point, while the same amount of data is worth 5 Rewards points for postpaid users.
Globe customers may also donate their Rewards points which will expire by end-July 2022. — With Jocelyn Montemayor, Ashzel Hachero, Gerard Naval, Myla Iglesias, and Jed Macapagal
