Cebu sending food, cash aid to NegOr

Social welfare offices were kept busy mobilizing food and relief goods for  quake-struck areas in Negros Oriental.

In a radio interview, Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo said the official death toll is pegged at 48.

But he expects it to rise since there are 29 missing persons in Planas, Guihulngan City, and  missing persons in other localities.

Degamo said the damage to infrastructure could reach P1 billion, though a final field assessment is not yet complete.

Three bridges were destroyed  in Guihulngan, Jimalalud and La Libertad.

Degamo appealed for assistance such as clothes, food and water.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) was scheduled to bring 2,000 food packs and used clothing to Negros Oriental yesterday afternoon.

DSWD-7 information officer Jaybee Binghay said their reports showed 1,100 victims with 15 confirmed dead and 29 missing in Negros Oriental as of yesterday morning.

She said 1,400 relief packs will be given to Guihulngan, 200 for La Libertad, 300 for Bindoy and 100 for Tayasan.

Each pack contains three kilos of rice, canned goods and used clothing.  They are also sending  318 blankets, 336 mats, 275 mosquito nets, 200 slippers and 30 tents.

The Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF)  sent  teams with equipment and medicines.

Earlier, a DSWD-7 Quick Response Team distributed 30 tents, 330 mats, 318 blankets, 275 mosquito nets, 2,000 bottles of mineral water and 2,000 family packs, 160 boxes of canned goods (sardines and beef loaf)  to the affected  areas yesterday afternoon.

The distribution of the relief goods focused in the towns of Guihulngan, La Libertad, Bindoy and Tayasan.

Asst. Regional Director Welino Gubuan of the Office of Civil Defense in Central Visayas (OCD-7) said search-and-rescue operations were focused in Negros Oriental where the epicenter was located in Tayasan, located 100 kilometers away from Cebu.

As of yesterday morning, there are still 44 unidentified missing persons.

Gubuan said they received reports of cracks in certain structures while part of a structure of the Guinhulngan College collapsed.

Around 70 families were affected by a landslide in barangay Sulungon, La Libertad  town, and 40 people went missing in barangay Planas, Guihulngan town.

Gubuan said they are still confirming damage estimates in Bohol and Siquijor provinces.

Gubuan said their staff members and volunteers need picks and shovels for digging in the collapsed areas to look for survivors while the victims need potable water and medicine.

Municipal social workers in Negros Oriental already conducted counseling sessions for some of the survivors in Negros Oriental.

The DSWD-7 also set up a donation desk in their field office in Cebu city.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)-7 also sent a team of geologists and mining engineers to investigate a landslide incident in barangay Planas, Guihulngan.

The Capitol will also provide assistance to affected areas in Negros Oriental.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said she was thankful that the province was spared from the brunt of last Monday’s earthquake.

She said the province will coordinate with the Cebu Archdiocese in repairing the damages sustained by the churches in Boljoon and Dumanjug towns, which are considered heritage structures. With Reports from Correspondents Carmel Loise Matus, Fe Marie Dumaboc, Norman V. Mendoza and Rhea Ruth V. Rosell