Most businesses up and running in quake-hit Cebu

(Updated 6:05 p.m.) Commerce in Cebu Province is recovering from Tuesday's 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Central Philippines, with most establishments back in businesses Wednesday despite the social impact of the tremor that killed at least 144 people and affected more than 2.8 million people in 879 villages in 27 towns and seven cities. 

 

“Most of our members have resumed operations, actually,” Lito Maderazo, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, told GMA News Online.   

 

For government, it is still to early to place a price on the economic cost of the latest havoc induced by nature. 

 

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the Philippine economic team is still assessing the economic toll on the hardest hit areas in Central Visayas. 

 

“We may be able to come up with an initial assessment by tomorrow,” he said in a text message to GMA News Online. 

 

Cebu City –  the second most populous Metropolitan area in the Philippines after the National Capital Region – is “lucky enough to sustain only minor damage,” Maderazo said. 

 

Other than two “badly hit” public markets and two hardware stores in  low-rise buildings in Mandaue and Cebu Cities, commercial and industrial buildings sustained “superficial” damage, he noted. 

 

Cebu utilities restored

Work in Cebu's business process outsourcing and manufacturing sectors were suspended Tuesday after a quake struck neighboring Bohol province. 

 

At least eight economic zones and industrial and IT parks are located in Cebu Island.

 

But water, electricity, and communications were restored in Cebu hours after the deadly quake, Maderazo said. 

 

In a statement Wednesday, state-run National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said operations in Leyte, Cebu, Negros, and Panay are normal. 

 

Several lines that tripped on Tuesday were restored within hours, except for the Tagbilaran Carmen line servicing portions of Bohol province which is still being restored.

 

Business officials in Bohol could not be reached as of this posting. 

 

Malls open, banks stay closed

 

Operators Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and SM Prime Holdings Inc. early Wednesday announced the re-opening of their respective shopping mall, but banks opted to suspend operations for the second straight day. 

 

SM City Cebu ans SM City Consolacion were opened Wednesday, 12 noon, SM Supermalls noted on its official Twitter account.

 

In an e-mailed statement to news outfits, ALI affiliate Cebu Holdings Inc. said Ayala Center Cebu will resume operations Wednesday after consultants declared the property as “structurally safe and sound.”

The buildings were given clearance, but Ayala Land said mall hours were shortened to 5 p.m. as safety precaution.

However, it will be up to the managment of business process outsourcing companies renting the premises to decide on when to resume operations, ALI added.

 

Lenders Citi Philippines, East West Banking Corporation, and Bank of the Philippine Islands announced that their branches in quake hit areas remain shuttered for safety reasons, according to separate bulletins. 

 

Maderazo said businesses were making decisions to open or stay closed based on recommendations of structural engineers' that reflect on the integrity of the infrastructure and whether there are enough employees reporting for work. 

 

While not all companies in the Mactan-Export Processing Zone have resumed operations, because “some of the people are still worrying for their safety,” most retail shops have opened for business, he added. 

 

Flights resume

 

Airlines reported that operations in Cebu and Bohol were stalled for a few hours Tuesday until the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) gave the Mactan-Cebu and Tagbilaran airports the green light to resume full operations.

 

Philippine Airlines (PAL) and its budget carrier unit PAL Express were not gravely affected, according to to a PAL official who asked not to be named, saying flights were merely put on hold. 

 

“Our Cebu and Bohol operations only had slight delays for a few hours... but no cancellations. After CAAP checked the structural integrity of the airport building and runway, we were given the go signal to resume our flights,” the PAL official said.

 

In a statement, Cebu Pacific Air said it canceled its Manila-Tagbilaran-Manila flight after operations at the Tagbilaran Airport were suspended Tuesday morning. 

 

Flights to and from Cebu resumed by noon Tuesday, but passengers were given the heads up on possibles delays as a consequence of the chaos, Cebu Pacific said.

 

Budget carrier AirAsia Zest canceled a couple of Cebu-Bohol-Cebu flights, said executive vice president and COO Joy Caneba.

 

“For flights that we canceled, we offered service recovery options,” she said in a text message to GMA News Online. “To those passengers who were affected and could not make it to the flight, we offered free one time move of flight.  

 

“We were able to manage our operations yesterday to ensure no stranded passengers at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and Tagbilaran Airport,” Caneba added.  – VS, GMA News