Marcos: Relief, recovery efforts for Cebu quake victims to continue until return to normalcy

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday vowed that the government will continue its relief and recovery efforts for the victims of the devastating 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Cebu until their lives have returned to normalcy.

Marcos made the commitment in posts on his Facebook and Instagram accounts hours after he visited Bogo City, which was hardest hit by the quake that rocked the province earlier this week.

“Sisiguraduhin natin na tuloy-tuloy ang recovery program hanggang lahat ng naapektuhan ay may kinakain, may tinutulugan, at nakabalik na sa normal ang kanilang kabuhayan,” the President said on his social media accounts.

(We will make sure that the recovery program will continue until everyone who was affected has something to eat, a place to sleep, and have resumed their normal lives.”

Marcos lamented that the powerful tremor caused severe damage to infrastructure and even heritage sites, and displaced over 65,000 families.

“Malaki ang pinsala lalo na sa infrastructure, kaya kukuha tayo ng malalaking tent na mabilis itayo at doon ilalagay ang mga pamilyang na-displace,” the President said.

(The damage was bad, especially in infrastructure, so we will get large tents that are easy to set up and we will house the displaced families there.”

He added: “Titiyakin natin na may food supply, may water supply, at may kuryente kung saan kailangan. I assured everybody na hindi tayo mauubusan ng pagkain at tubig.”

(We will ensure that there is food supply, water supply, and electricity wherever it is needed. I assured everybody that we won’t run out of food and water.”

In a brief video of his visit, Marcos underscored the need to designate distribution centers where relief goods, potable water, health kits, and other necessary supplies will be released to earthquake victims.

“So that's what we are going, those are the people that we have to support until they find better accommodations and arrangements,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the President ordered the restoration of electricity in Bogo City within 48 hours.

The Office of the President also donated nearly P200 million for the earthquake victims. This is apart from releases totaling P225 million under the Local Government Support Fund for Cebu and other local government units in the province.

Marcos also announced the release of P20 million to Cebu hospitals under the Department of Health and P5 million each to provincial hospitals. — JMA, GMA Integrated News