Speed up services in quake-hit Batangas — Rody

MANILA, Philippines - President Duterte yesterday directed all concerned government agencies to speed up the delivery of services in Batangas, which was struck by powerful earthquakes last Saturday.

Duterte gave the orders before he left for his official trip to the Middle East.

“Rest assured, our government is on top of the situation. I have personally ordered that relief operations be undertaken immediately to restore normalcy in the affected areas as soon as possible,” he said.

Duterte called on Filipinos to always be prepared for disasters and lauded the agencies that immediately responded to give relief to affected residents.

“Our people in Batangas are still reeling from the damage brought by the recent earthquakes with reported incidents of collapsed walls of residential houses and buildings and of landslides,” he said. “We are, however, relieved that no deaths have been reported despite the reported number of aftershocks.”

“We are thankful to these national and local agencies for ensuring that the effects of the disaster are mitigated,” he added.

Relief operations

As of yesterday, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provided relief assistance worth P1,397,880 to affected families in the municipality of Mabini, island town of Tingloy and Batangas City and to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Batangas.

Included in the assistance are tents, blankets, bottled water, family food packs, ready-to-eat food and energy drinks.

The Office of Vice President (OVP) and the Manila Water Foundation also donated 600 five-liter water bottles to earthquake victims in Mabini. 

Manila Water is one of the OVP’s partners in its anti-poverty program, Angat Buhay. 

The OVP has also pledged to give 1,400 food packs to the municipality and to continue to coordinate with its development partners to help the efforts of the local government.

The OVP and the Mabini local government also launched a drive to provide tents, blankets and beddings for families afraid to return to their homes.

The quakes damaged houses and infrastructure, including three hospitals.

Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial reported yesterday that the Mabini General Hospital sustained major damage so it had to be shut down for the meantime. The Bay District Hospital and the Batangas Medical Center in Batangas City sustained minor damage. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Rainier Allan Ronda, Evelyn Macairan, Paolo Romero, Arnell Ozaeta