OVP delivers relief boxes to earthquake-hit towns in Cebu

Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday led her office in distributing relief boxes to families affected by the devastating magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit Cebu province on Tuesday night.

According to the Office of the Vice President (OVP), it has delivered 2,000 relief boxes, 3,100 boxes of Relief for Indigents and Individuals in Crises and Emergencies (RIICE) assistance, and 1,500 kilograms of rice to affected households as of 1 p.m. on October 2.

The food packs, potable water, hygiene kits, and other non-food essentials were distributed to families in the towns of Medellin, San Remigio, Tabuelan, and Tabogon, as well as Bogo City.

Duterte, in an ambush interview, said that she also visited the wake of those who died following the powerful earthquake, as well as those sleeping outside their homes and along roads due to fear of aftershocks. 

Based on her assessment, she said that many households still have no electricity or water supply. She emphasized that many residents are also in need of stress debriefing. 

“Napakahalaga ng stress debriefing sa mga tao dahil takot sila lahat sa nangyari, nagulat sila lahat sa nangyari, at takot sila na bumalik sa kanilang mga bahay. Marami sa kanila ang bigla na lang umiyak, at marami sa kanila ang nagsasabi na hindi nila alam kung ano ang biglang nangyari. So dapat meron stress debriefing ‘yung mga tao para mailabas nila ‘yung mga nararamdaman nila at takot nila,” Duterte said. 

(Stress debriefing is very important because the people are all still afraid of what happened; they are all shocked and afraid to go back to their houses. Many of them cry suddenly and are confused. So people should have a stress debriefing so that they can release these emotions.) 

“Ang sunod na nakita ko ng pangailangan ay yung assessment—turuan ‘yung mga tao paano mag-assess sa mga bahay nila, kung structurally sound pa ba ‘yung bahay, o kailangan ayusin para hindi siya maapektuhan sa mga aftershocks dahil napakalakas din ‘yung mga aftershocks,” she added. 

(The people should also be taught how to assess their houses, if they are still structurally sound or already need to be repaired so that they will not be further affected by aftershocks.) 

The death toll from the devastating Cebu earthquake has risen to 72, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Thursday morning. —VBL, GMA Integrated News