President Marcos eyes visiting quake-hit Abra on Thursday

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos is planning to visit Abra on Thursday, July 28, to check the situation there following the magnitude 7.0 quake that struck  the Northern Luzon province on Wednesday.

At a press conference, Marcos explained why he will not immediately go to the affected provinces as it will only disrupt the operations of local officials. Still, he said he is considering to go to Abra on Thursday.

"I am staying away from going to the affected areas for a very simple reason: It has been my experience as governor, it has been my experience in Yolanda that when the national officers come to the affected areas immediately, ginugulo lang namin ‘yung trabaho ng mga local officials (we are just disrupting the work of local officials)," Marcos said.

"Halimbawa, pupunta ako doon maghahanap pa ako ng pulis para pag-secure; kailangan akong i-meeting ng local officials, eh marami silang ginagawa. So I said, let them do their work. Let us wait for them to tell us what is going to be — what the true situation is and maybe I can schedule a trip perhaps tomorrow as soon as possible," he added.

[If I go there immediately, I might be disrupting the work of local officials. They have a lot of things to do.)

According to PHIVOLCS, the quake — earlier reported as magnitude 7.3 — occurred at 8:43 a.m. and was located at 17.64°N, 120.63°E - 003 km N 45° W of Tayum in Abra. It had a depth of 17 kilometers.

The quake was felt strongly in many areas in Luzon, including in Metro Manila.

Marcos said he was in his office when the quake struck.

His family was unharmed, according to the Palace.

"I was in my office... naririnig ko, may chandelier...'yun ang guide namin dito sa Palasyo kapag narinig mo 'yung chandelier na kumakalansing, di ibig sabihin may lindol. It was very strong, it's stronger than usual," Marcos said.

(I was in my office... I heard the chandelier... that's our guide in the Palace, if you hear the rattling sound then there's an earthquake.)  —LBG, GMA News