The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it will remain on full alert in Cebu even as search and rescue operations ended in the wake of the magnitude 6.9 earthquake in the province.
‘The search and retrieval operations were stopped last night because their search for the injured ended. All the missing individuals have been accounted for,’ PNP public information chief Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño said in a press briefing in Camp Crame on Thursday.
‘That’s why our concentration is now just relief and rehab operations. That’s why the PNP is still on full alert,’ he added.
This came after the Office of Civil Defense also stated that some rescue teams have been informed they may demobilize and continue assisting with relief operations.
The PNP also stated that it has yet to receive reports of violence and looting in the aftermath of the earthquake and that the Central Visayas police have increased their deployment from 1,356 officers to 2,250 officers to bolster relief and rehabilitation efforts.
At least 72 individuals were reported dead and 294 were reported injured, according to the latest National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) situational report on Thursday morning.
However, the NDRRMC noted that these casualties have yet to be validated.