The Department of Social Welfare and Development will provide burial assistance as well as a P10,000 cash aid to families of victims of Tuesday’s magnitude 6.9 earthquake.
‘The DSWD’s Field Office Central Visayas is now counting the number of casualties and their location. Our social workers will also talk to the concerned families to inform them that the DSWD will shoulder the burial expenses of their loved ones,’ DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said in a statement.
The death toll from the powerful quake that rocked Central Visayas continues to rise, along with the number of injured and missing individuals based on reports by Cebu’s Provincial Disaster Response and Risk Reduction Management Office.
Cebu has been placed under a state of calamity to give the provincial government the ability to respond quickly and mobilize resources.
From Masbate where he assisted President Marcos in distributing cash aid to 600 Opong-affected families, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian was directed by the Chief Executive to proceed to Cebu to check on the condition of the families severely affected by the earthquake.
According to the Department of Education, the earthquake in Central Visayas is projected to affect more than 16,000 schools across 73 divisions of DepEd in varying intensities.
In Masbate City, Education Secretary Sonny Angara and other state officials accompanied President Marcos in the distribution of aid at Nursery Elementary School on Oct. 1.
These include the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation of P10,000 each for 600 families and two checks totaling over P34.8 million from the Department of Labor and Employment Region V to the Provincial Government of Masbate for Livelihood Assistance and Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers for 6,455 beneficiaries in 11 municipalities.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said the Department of Health will tap its P500-million quick response fund to assist earthquake victims.
In another development, the Department of Trade and Industry has imposed a 60-day price freeze on basic necessities in Cebu following the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that hit the province.
In Iloilo, retired Col. Cornelio Salinas, head of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, complained about the lack of local earthquake monitoring station in the area.
The Archdiocese of Cebu yesterday ordered the structural assessment of churches and rectories in its jurisdiction.