MANAY, Davao Oriental (MindaNews / 12 October) – Two trucks from South Cotabato arrived on Saturday loaded with food packs for residents of this town affected by the two earthquakes on Friday.
Rolly Doane Aquino, provincial disaster risk response and management officer for South Cotabato, said Governor Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr. ordered the immediate dispatch of the relief goods “right after the quake.”
“Time is of the essence … hanggang madaling-araw nag-repack kami and nag-karga sa sasakyan (we repacked and loaded the vehicles until dawn),” Aquino said.
The two trucks from the provincial government had a tarp hanging over each hood with the words, all in uppercase, “Tulong mula sa mga mamamayan ng South Cotabato” (Help from the people of South Cotabato).
Soldiers from the 66th Infantry Battalion, as well as provincial volunteers formed a human chain to unload the boxes from the two trucks.
According to Aquino, the trucks contained 500 food packs, 500 hygiene kits, 50 kitchen kits, 50 sleeping kits, and 50 sacks of 25-kilo rice.
The convoy left Koronadal City at 3 a.m., less than 24 hours after the first quake hit last Friday, 9:43 a.m.
“It’s part of our responsibility to other provinces hit by a calamity…if we’re not affected, we have the reason to send help,” Aquino said in mixed English and Filipino.
He said the relief goods came from the provincial government’s P150 million to P160 million disaster fund, with the money coming from the regular 70% of the legally mandated amount.
Since the provincial government did not declare a state of calamity for the year so far, Aquino said they were able to set aside portions of their relief goods to send to nearby provinces like Davao Oriental.
He said their province had also helped Cebu, which was hit by an earthquake on September 30.
Aquino said he met with Mayor Jon Marco Dayanghirang when they turned over goods to the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO).
Friday’s earthquakes damaged houses and public buildings, including sections of the Manay District Hospital and the San Ignacio parish compound.
According to the MDRRMO, no deaths were reported as of Saturday noon, but there were at least 41 injured.
Seventeen barangays were affected by the quakes, with 14 evacuation centers activated to assist 14,273 individuals.
According to the MDRRMO, roads to Barangays Cayawan and Guza were still partially blocked, while landslides were reported in upland areas.
On the road from Manay towards Tarragona, several boulders as large as cars could be seen on different parts of the road, apparently recently rolling off the cliffside as the earth shook randomly for the past two days. (Yas D. Ocampo/MindaNews)
