After successive quakes in Mindanao: Agencies extend aid

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Philippine Coast Guard have sent relief goods to Mindanao for the survivors of the recent earthquakes there.

Yesterday morning, DSWD and PCG sent 54,100 cans of sardines; eight canvass tents; 26,720 pieces of malong; 1,000 sleeping kits; and 5,040 bottles of mineral water from Nature Spring.

The relief goods were transported via the Coast Guard’s MRRV 4406.

Last Friday night, two trucks loaded with 2,400 bottles of mineral water and another truck loaded with 3,954 bottles of mineral water, 423 food packs, 57 pieces of canvass tents, and 65 mosquito nets were transported to Cagayan De Oro City.

The PCG launched the relief campaign shortly after the successive earthquakes in Davao City and Cotabato.

The provincial government also initiated its own relief campaign through the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and the Provincial Social Welfare and Development.

Neil Sanchez of PDRRMO said the most needed items are food, water, and blankets. He encouraged donors to give canned goods because they last longer. PSWDO acting chief Wilson Ramos also encouraged donors to give tents.

Those interested to donate can drop their items at the basketball court at the provincial Capitol compound.

Meanwhile, those who would prefer to send their donations to PCG can reach the agency at its landline number – (032) 402-0489 and mobile numbers 0917-622-1642, 0998-585-8301, and 0917-842-7102.

Those who live in southern Cebu can call 0905-402-4431 while those who live in Camotes can call 0917-809-5729. Those who live in Bohol can call 0917-816-3121.

Situaton

The situation for earthquake-affected villagers at the boundary of Datu Paglas, Maguindanao and North Cotabato's Tulunan town worsened as flash floods swept through their villages late Friday.

Members of the municipal disaster risk reduction and management council in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao and motorcyclists belonging to the Cowboy Riders group rescued dozens of families as rampaging flood waters spawned by heavy downpours swept through their barangays on Friday night.

Houses of many families in Maguindanao's Datu Paglas municipality, an immediate neighbor of Tulunan, were damaged by tremors that jolted central Mindanao on October 16, followed by more than a thousand aftershocks, the last of which was felt 2:28 a.m. Saturday.

Evacuees have been making calls over radio stations in Kidapawan City for donations of bottled water and tarpaulins that they can use as roofing material for temporary shelters.

Residents displaced by earthquakes are trying to survive through the ordeal of a lack of water in evacuation sites that do not have comfort rooms either.

No fewer than 20 broadcast journalists in different radio stations in North Cotabato were also badly affected by earthquakes.

Houses of reporters of the largest radio outfit in Kidapawan City, the Catholic station dxND, were damaged too.

Some now wear crash helmets while inside broadcast booths when hosting programs because of the aftershocks.

Community leaders have also urged the Department of Trade and Industry to strictly enforce an earlier price freeze on commercial goods sold in North Cotabato. Philippine Star News Service , JMO (FREEMAN)