DAMAGE The 6.5-magnitude earthquake that hit Davao del Sur province last year destroyed homes and buildings in Digos City. —BONG SARMIENTO
MAGSAYSAY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — More aid trickled into Davao del Sur for rebuilding its earthquake-hit communities, raising hopes among displaced families that they could eventually start a new life.
Davao del Sur’s towns are among the areas hardest hit by the series of powerful earthquakes in October, with damage increasing with another powerful temblor in December.
Records from disaster response agencies showed that as of the end of 2019, close to 3,000 houses were destroyed and more than 11,000 were damaged by the quakes in the province.
Many families are still staying in temporary shelters, awaiting the building of their new houses. The town requires a total of 15 relocation sites.
Land purchase
Recently, Rotary Club International purchased a 2.1-hectare land at Sitio Macabulos in Barangay San Miguel here as site for the new houses of 61 displaced families.
Mayor Arthur Davin said the construction of the houses in San Miguel would start this month.
The Philippine Red Cross had built four toilets for the displaced families in San Miguel. By the time the families leave, the facilities will be turned over to the San Miguel Elementary School.
Tools
Davin said the Philippine Army had also pledged to purchase the 4-ha land as relocation site of the evacuees from Barangay Upper Bala.
A large portion of the village has been assessed as a no-build zone because of the threats of landslides and the large cracks on the ground due to the quakes.
The Magsaysay local government’s disaster response funds were further boosted by donations of P2.7 million from the Makati City government and P300,000 from Kananga town in Leyte province.
For the other towns, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has provided carpentry and other tools so these can be used by evacuees in building their new homes.
MinDA chair Emmanuel Piñol said the tools were donated by Don Bosco Foundation for Sustainable Development through the support of Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Leehiong Wee and the Philippine Business Council in Indonesia.
Evacuees from the towns of Padada, Magsaysay, Kiblawan, Bansalan and Matanao in Davao del Sur, and M’lang, Tulunan and Makilala in Cotabato pro¬vince received welding machines, rotary drills, marble cutters and planers, among others.
These will be used in repairing public buildings, government facilities and damaged homes.
Piñol said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources approved the turnover to quake-hit towns of some 20,000 board feet of lumber recovered by its personnel from antilogging operations so these could be used in rebuilding efforts.—Eldie S. Aguirre and Orlando B. Dinoy