By Joel Mapiles | Philippine News Agency
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Governor Lilia Pineda personally extended condolences to the families of those who died from the tremor in the towns of Porac and Lubao.
The two lady provincial leaders, along with some local officials, handed over bereavement assistance to the families of Doris Paule, Niella Denise Paule, Adrian Charles Ocampo, Sophia Janes Arbis, Jovilyn Vera, Gerome Kyle Enriquez, Manilyn Dela Cruz and her children Jacob and Hailee.
They also pledged to cover all the burial expenses of the earthquake victims.
“This is one of the priorities. Also, rebuilding houses for the affected families and providing assistance to the bereaved families,” the governor said.
Arroyo and Pineda also inspected the collapsed building of Chuzon Supermarket and asked the search and rescue front liners about the latest situation there.
Meanwhile, the operations were temporarily stopped following the occurrence of aftershocks since Wednesday morning.
Fire Senior Superintendent Samuel Tadeo, director of the Bureau of Fire Protection–Central Luzon, said they decided to temporarily halt the operations to ensure the safety of the rescuers.
So far, there were five casualties retrieved from the collapsed structure and seven were rescued.
Tadeo said the search and rescue unit used five cranes to hold the roof of the building and prevent it from possible collapse.
He said that although the rescuers no longer detect signs of life inside the collapsed structure, the search and rescue operations will last until Friday.
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