Quake-hit Ormoc to get visit from Duterte

Cracks caused by the magnitude 6.5 earthquake on July 6, 2017, are visible in Barangay Tongonan, Ormoc City in Leyte. On the background are steams coming from the geothermal power plants ran by the Energy Development Corp. PHOTO COURTESY OF CATHY IG-AGAO PANGANIBAN

ORMOC CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte is pushing through with his trip here on Thursday, exactly a week after this city was rocked by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that killed a young mother and damaged public properties of worth than P230 million.

The President’s visit was announced by Aurora Casimpan of the Philippine Information Agency in Eastern Visayas (PIA-8) during a meeting with local officials on Wednesday morning.

“But I cannot give you details on the visit of the President because there is still an ongoing meeting about the presidential visit,” she told the Inquirer.

Mr. Dutere was earlier expected in Ormoc on Monday but the visit didn’t push through. Instead, some Cabinet officials met with city officials who briefed them of the extent of the damage caused by the quake, the strongest to hit Ormoc. CBB