DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/ November 4) – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Davao Region has identified 388 children in earthquake-affected areas in Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental who need psychosocial support.
Rachel M. Guerrero, section head of the Disaster Response and Management Division of DSWD-Davao, said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Monday, November 3 that the agency has established child-friendly spaces in communities and evacuation centers, including tent cities, to accommodate the affected children.
She said these facilities are safe spaces within the community where children can access free and structured play, recreation, leisure, and learning activities.
Of the total, she noted that 157 children were from Davao de Oro and 231 from Davao Oriental, which were the two provinces severely affected by the powerful twin earthquakes.
The children range in age from 5 to 16 years old, she said.
Guerrero said the activities conducted by social workers included storytelling sessions, structured play, and movie nights, all organized in coordination with local government units, the Department of Health, and non-government organizations engaged in child protection.
She said the sessions also allowed social workers to assess whether the children required further intervention from medical professionals, particularly if they were exhibiting signs of emotional distress such as hysteria.
“Based on our latest activity, conducted in coordination with the local social welfare office, there were no cases requiring referral. The children actively participated in all activities. Our social workers did not observe any signs of hysteria among the children. They were asked to draw their houses before and after the earthquake. Some of them cried, which is normal, but afterward, they returned to their activities,” she said.
She said some of the children have resumed attending regular classes, while others continue with modular learning sessions.
She added that the agency is continuously monitoring the welfare of the children.
According to the data from the Department of Education-Davao, a total of 114,820 learners across the region were affected. Of this number, 45,718 or 39.8 percent were from Davao de Oro, 31,484 from Davao del Norte, 20,753 from Davao Oriental, 8,369 from Davao City, 4,141 from Davao del Sur, and 4,355 from Davao Occidental.
On October 10, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake jolted Manay, Davao Oriental, at 9:43 a.m., with impact felt across several areas in Visayas and Mindanao. Approximately nine hours later, at 7:12 p.m., a second earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 occurred in the same area.
The doublet earthquakes were “tectonic in origin and strongly felt across neighboring areas, causing the displacement of numerous families and individuals, and triggering damage to homes and lifelines in affected communities,” according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or PHIVOLCS.
Based on a report released by the DSWD on October 25, the tremors affected a total of 280,184 families or 1,218,293 persons across 459 barangays in the region.
Of this total, the province of Davao Oriental reported the highest number of affected families, with 178,455, or 841,964 persons, followed by Davao de Oro with 76,107 families, or 285,338 persons, and Davao del Norte with 25,622 families, or 90,991 persons.
The report also noted that a total of 1,612 houses were totally damaged and 29,721 were partially damaged in the region. Of these, Davao Oriental accounted for 1,273 totally damaged and 18,185 partially damaged, followed by Davao de Oro with 242 totally damaged and 11,053 partially damaged, and Davao del Norte with 97 totally damaged and 483 partially damaged. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
