No humanitarian crisis in quake-troubled Mindanao –NDRRMC chief

There is no humanitarian crisis  in Cotabato, amid the destruction and the emergency situation brought about by a series of strong quakes that rocked Mindanao in the southern Philippines in October, a disaster management official said Sunday.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Ricardo Jalad also said that the government is on top of the situation.

According to NDRRMC's latest update on the effects of the 6.6 and 6.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Tulunan, Cotabato last week, the temblors left 21 people dead, 432 wounded, and two reported missing.

Jalad made the remark amid television reports showing residents in areas hit hardest by the quakes flagging down cars by the road side in a desperate cry for assistance –including food, water, and shelter.

But NDRRMC's Jalad said, “Wala, [walang humanitarian crisis], functioning ‘yung market, may supply ng pagkain so ‘yung may pera nakakabili. Ang problema natin, ‘yung walang pera,” he told reporters.

“Nagbigay tayo [ng supplies]. ‘Yung probinsya meron, ‘yung DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) meron… ‘Yung na-displace mula dun sa bundok, bababa ang kanilang kabuhayan diyan. ‘Yun ang source nila ng pera. ‘Yung taga-baba e nasira lang ‘yung bahay ‘di ba? Tuloy pa rin sila sa paghahanapbuhay,” Jalad added.

Jalad also said the government’s C130 air crafts have made several flights to Mindanao to provide aid, adding there is no need to appeal for assistance from the international community as the government “still has enough resources.”

Moreover, he said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, appointed by Malacañang on Saturday to lead relief efforts, has instructed the NDRRMC to provide evacuees with water and materials to set up temporary shelters.

“Kasi takot o sira ‘yung bahay nila, so dun sa kanilang gilid ng kanilang compound o sa labas ng bahay nagse-set up ng tents at saka tarpaulin, so suplayan din natin ‘yan ng mga ganung gamit. Of course, tubig dahil sira yata yung water district sa Makilala,” he said.

Lorenzana has also ordered the NDRRMC to aid indigenous peoples who lost their homes to the earthquakes, according to Jalad.

Tulunan, Cotabato was the epicenter of the three powerful temblors that struck on October 16, 29, and 31.

PHIVOLCS earlier explained that the quakes may have been a domino effect of the movement of one fault. —Julia Mari Ornedo/LBG, GMA News