Davao City council session adjourned due to quake
DAVAO CITY –– The regular session of the city council here was abruptly ended due to the 5.3-magnitude earthquake that struck off Governor Generoso town in Davao Oriental Tuesday afternoon.
The tremor was felt in this city at Intensity 4, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).
The city councilors were discussing items for the second reading when Acting Vice Mayor Alberto Ungab called a suspension of the session because of the shaking.
Minutes later, as the jolting stopped, Ungab called for the session’s resumption but the Majority Floor Leader, Councilor J. Melchor Quitain, opposed, saying there was a need to adjourn to check the Sangguniang Panlungsod building especially that, according to him, it is more than 30 years old.
“We are afraid of aftershocks. Supposedly, right after the shaking, everyone should have vacated the building,” Quitain told members of the media after the session was adjourned.
Article continues after this advertisement“It’s safer for everybody (to cut the session) because we don’t know whether there will be aftershocks,” he said.
According to Quitain, who was supposed to deliver a privilege speech, there was no need for a special session to cover the items that were not discussed.
“We can still tackle this on the next regular session,” he said. /lzb
