By Brian Campued
Upon the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., various government agencies have immediately mobilized to provide assistance to the areas affected by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck Davao Oriental on Friday.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) placed its emergency operations center in Davao Region under “red alert status” to ensure faster coordination with local authorities and to assess the extent of possible damage and humanitarian needs.
The OCD XI, together with the Tactical Operations Group 11 of the Eastern Mindanao Command, also conducted an aerial inspection and rapid assessment of the affected areas.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through its Disaster Response Command Center (DRCC), has also placed all of its concerned field offices (FO) on heightened alert to monitor and gather updates on the ground, especially from FO XI.
“The Department assures the public that sufficient food and non-food relief supplies are prepositioned in strategic warehouses nationwide for immediate deployment if needed,” the DSWD Disaster Response Management said.
The DSWD FO XI said that a total of 103,614 boxes of family food packs (FFPs), 5,000 ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes, and 30,019 non-food items (NFIs) were already prepositioned and ready for deployment in affected communities.
Department of Health (DOH) Sec. Teodoro Herbosa likewise activated three Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Teams (PEMATs) to be deployed in Davao Oriental. The teams are composed of personnel from the Eastern Visayas Medical Center, Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium, and Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital.
“Bilang Emergency Medical Type 1 Fixed, may kakayahan ang DOH-PEMAT team na magserbisyo bilang outpatient department o magtayo ng pansamantalang hospital tents sa oras ng sakuna,” DOH said.
Department of Transportation (DOTr) Sec. Giovanni Lopez, meanwhile, ordered the deployment of Love Buses in Davao City to accommodate stranded passengers following the earthquake.
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Sec. Vince Dizon deployed quick response teams to conduct clearing operations on areas affected by landslides in Davao Oriental to ensure unimpeded flow of relief goods.
Dizon also ordered DPWH personnel to conduct assessment on roads, bridges, and public buildings to determine the extent of damages and whether structures are safe for use.
The Department of Energy (DOE), in its situational report, said three electric cooperatives are currently experiencing partial power interruptions while the three power generation plants which went offline due to auto-tripping caused by the earthquake have been restored.
As of 12:00 p.m., the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) assured that internet and mobile services in the Davao Region are stable despite minor power outages in Davao Oriental.
“Iwasan muna ang paggamit ng data para sa streaming o pagda-download; gamitin lamang ang internet para sa mahahalagang impormasyon at pakikipag-ugnayan sa mga mahal sa buhay sa pamamagitan ng maikling text o chat,” the DICT said in a statement.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Sec. Amenah Pangandaman also instructed the DBM Regional Office to coordinate with their counterparts in other agencies, such as the DOH, DSWD, and OCD, on how to assist affected communities.
“We will continue to monitor the situation in impacted areas. But as early as now, nagbaba na po tayo ng direktiba sa ating DBM Regional Office na makipag-ugnayan sa mga concerned agencies kung paano tayo makakatulong,” Pangandaman said.
“Kami naman po sa DBM, sa utos po ni Pangulong Bongbong Marcos, we will make sure na sa oras ng emergencies o kalamidad, maglalabas po ang pamahalaan ng sapat at kinakailangang tulong para walang-patid po ang serbisyo ng frontline agencies na nagpapatupad ng relief and recovery efforts,” she added.
As of 5:00 p.m. today, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has recorded 339 aftershocks from the earthquake. Of this number, 88 were plotted while 13 were felt—with the highest magnitude recorded at 5.8.
-jpv
