GENERAL SANTOS — The mayor of the coastal town of Glan, which was devastated by a powerful earthquake, pleaded on Thursday for helicopters to transport food to stave off hunger in several landslide-isolated villages.
The 7.8-magnitude offshore quake, one of the strongest to hit the Philippine archipelago in a half century, struck Monday off the southern province of Sarangani and has left at least 47 people dead and injured 688 with 31 still missing.
More than 45,000 people remained displaced, about half in emergency shelters, after the quake damaged more than 12,600 houses in farming towns and cities. Many were still too traumatized to return home due to aftershocks, provincial officials said.
Sarangani reported 20 dead from the quake, the highest toll from the affected provinces, mostly due to a landslide that buried houses in the coastal town of Glan, according to the government’s Office of Civil Defense, which deals with major disasters.
Glan Mayor Victor James Yap said power has not been restored to his province, and 10 of 31 villages in his town of more than 100,000 people remained inaccessible mostly due to landslides. He asked the government to immediately deploy Air Force helicopters to deliver food and other aid to the stricken areas.
“We need food and water, but it’s difficult to transport them to some of our villages which remain isolated,” Yap told DZMM radio network. “Choppers are needed to transport food because people there are already very hungry.” A key access road to the town has been reopened and will allow the delivery of fuel as early as Thursday, but the town remained without power and cell phone services were still spotty, Yap said.
The Office of Civil Defense said more than P26 million worth of food packs, cash and other aid have been provided so far, and 180 government and military planes, helicopters, ships and trucks have been deployed to respond to the disaster.
About 3,400 government and military personnel were involved in search efforts for the missing, debris-clearing in roads, damage assessment and other disaster-mitigation work, it said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday visited the hard-hit city of General Santos City, where he inspected damaged hospitals and schools, and discussed recovery efforts. He ordered the release of P100 million for the repair of the partly collapsed city hall and P50,000 for the families of each of the victims who died in the quake.
Most of the deaths from the quake were caused by falling debris from collapsed buildings and landslides in Sarangani, the coastal city of General Santos, and the outlying provinces of South Cotabato and Davao Occidental.
Two swimmers drowned and one remained missing off General Santos after being swept out to sea shortly after the quake hit. Waves of up to 1.4 meters above tide level were measured in the country’s south and smaller waves washed ashore in Indonesia and Palau, and as far away as southern Japan.
The earthquake was one of the strongest to hit the country since an 8.1-magnitude quake and tsunami on Aug. 17, 1976, that killed about 8,000 people.
Rising death toll
The number of deaths being verified due to the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck off Maasim, Sarangani, on June 8 has now climbed to 47, along with 688 injured and 31 persons missing, a ranking official of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Thursday.
In a video message to reporters, OCD deputy administrator for administration, Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, said the casualties were concentrated in Regions 11 (Davao Region) and 12 (Soccsksargen).
The latest situational report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council indicated that of the 47 deaths being confirmed, 12 are from Region 11 and 35 in Region 12.
The deaths were recorded in the following provinces: Davao Occidental, 11 dead; Davao del Sur, one fatality; Sarangani, 20; and South Cotabato, 15.
Of the 688 injured, one in Region 11 has already been validated while the rest are still undergoing validation: 40 in Region 11 and 647 in Region 12.
Of the 31 persons missing, 13 were reported in Region 11 and 18 in Region 12.
Meanwhile, Alejandro said the number of affected families now 75,324, or 346,449 persons, from 291 barangay (villages) in Regions 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), 11, 12 and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Of these families, 3,515, or 16,349 persons, are being sheltered in 32 evacuation centers, while another 7,279 families, or 29,260, are being aided outside, with the remainder being helped by families and friends.
Damaged houses were placed at 12, 641 and these were reported in Regions 9, 11, 12 and the BARMM. Of which, 10,352 were classified as “partially damaged” and 2,289 as “totally damaged.”
