Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday declared the series of earthquakes in Mindanao as a humanitarian crisis.
Lorenzana appealed for calm among residents affected by the earthquakes as he vowed aid is sufficient for all of them.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, who is officer-in-charge as President Duterte attends the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Thailand, has ordered Lorenzana to lead all relief efforts and ensure public safety and security in the aftermath of the powerful earthquakes.
“It is now a humanitarian crisis,” Lorenzana admitted. “Maraming mga bahay ang nasira o kaya ang mga may-ari umalis dahil panay pa ang aftershocks at takot mabagsakan. Mayroon din landslides na sumira ng maraming bahay. Lahat ng mga ito ay nasa evacuation centers na nangangailangan ng assistance,” he said.
The Defense chief said National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Executive Director Ricardo Jalad is overseeing the relief operations.
In Makilala, Cotabato, reports of evacuees begging for food and water have reached the top government officials.
Jalad said the provincial office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development has enough supplies for the affected residents. “Inaayos natin ang response ng gobyerno para mabigyan lahat sila,” he said.
He said relief goods and donations were continuously being transported via C130 transport planes provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. “We still have enough resources,” the NDRRMC chief assured.
The provincial government of North Cotabato has accounted more victims following the successive earthquakes that rattled the province last week.
As of Nov. 2, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office has recorded 17 deaths and 271 injured because of the earthquakes.
The province also noted a total of 25,016 families displaced and 26,340 damaged houses.
The search and rescue operation is still ongoing.
North Cotabato acting Gov. Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza said that pouring of cash and relief goods in the earthquake-affected areas has started.
She announced yesterday that Lorenzana has instructed the Armed Forces of the Philippines to set up checkpoints in areas affected by the earthquakes in Davao del Sur and Cotabato.
In her advisory, she said the checkpoints shall control and screen the ingress and egress of the people in the evacuation center.
She stressed that only legitimate and authorized relief workers are granted access to evacuation centers and receive relief goods and supplies for distributions to the evacuees.
“The provincial government of Cotabato welcomes this development for this will help the province for its effort to establish strategic distributions of relief goods to our fellow Cotabateňos by properly monitoring the areas that already received goods to avoid duplication or concentrations of the distribution of relief goods,” Mendoza said.
The acting Cotabato governor added that this would also help the province properly account and monitor their resources coming from the national government agencies, other local government units, organizations, and private individuals. (Martin Sadongdong and Ivy Tejano)
