Marcos inspects ‘Bayanihan Village’, hospital in second visit in quake-hit Cebu

Local

FROM rows of white tents to lines of freshly built modular homes.

This was the scene that welcomed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. when he returned to northern Cebu on Friday, Oct. 17, tracing the same ground shaken by the 6.9-magnitude earthquake on Sept. 30.

The President inspected the newly built Bayanihan Village in Barangay Poblacion, San Remigio, where the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has constructed 45 modular shelter units for families displaced by the disaster.

The project was completed in just a week through the combined efforts of national agencies and private partners.

The DHSUD worked with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) to put up the Bayanihan Village, while two private companies extended assistance to the effort.

Evacuees currently staying in tents near the site are expected to move into the modular units soon.

These families come from areas declared as no-build zones after being totally damaged by the earthquake.

The DSWD has released P10,125 in financial aid to families whose homes were totally destroyed, and P5,250 to those with partially damaged houses.

Following the President’s directive, the DHSUD is deploying 150 modular shelter units across the three hardest-hit areas in Cebu, including Daanbantayan, San Remigio, and Bogo City, to provide sturdier and safer living spaces for displaced residents.

Marcos also visited the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Barangay Taytayan, Bogo City, which sustained heavy damage during the earthquake.

He checked ongoing repairs led by the DPWH and later proceeded to the Tent City in Bogo to inspect the continuing provision of essential services such as electricity, water, portable toilets, mobile bathing stations, and a mobile kitchen.

After the powerful earthquake struck off the coast near Bogo City, the President immediately ordered a whole-of-government disaster response and released over P200 million in assistance through the Office of the President.

The aid included P50 million for the Cebu provincial government; P20 million each for Bogo City, Sogod, and San Remigio; and P10 million each for Bantayan, Daanbantayan, Madridejos, Medellin, Santa Fe, Tabogon, and Tabuelan.

Marcos also directed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release the Local Government Support Fund to help affected localities recover.

The reported death toll due to the Sept. 30 magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Bogo City, Cebu has climbed to 79 as of Friday, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

All fatalities were recorded in Central Visayas, while 559 people were injured, also in the same region.

The NDRRMC said the figures are still subject to validation, noting that 216,947 families or 747,979 persons from 260 barangays in the region have been affected.

The DSWD and various non-government organizations have provided over P419 million worth of aid and 443,340 food packs to affected residents.

The quake left 126,934 houses damaged and 7,295 destroyed. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the on-land extension of the newly named Bogo Bay Fault generated the September 30 earthquake.

Marcos earlier visited damaged communities in Bogo City, inspecting infrastructure and meeting affected families as the government ramped up its relief, rehabilitation, and service restoration efforts.(MyTVCebu)