Aquino comforts quake victims

Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental — President Aquino arrived here yesterday and traveled to Guihulngan City to assure residents affected by Monday’s massive earthquake that there was no need to live in constant fear of strong aftershocks and tsunami.

“Don’t panic. No tsunami would hit,” Aquino was quoted as saying by an aide who went with the President as he inspected communities severely affected by the 6.9-magnitude quake that struck Negros Oriental before noon Monday.

The residents, particularly the elderly, feared for their lives and properties because of alleged disinformation that a strong earthquake and tsunami would hit Negros Island anew.

Monday’s earthquake struck Central Visayas but its shaking was felt in some parts of Western Visayas and Mindanao

The President visited the coastal community in Guihulngan before proceeding to an evacuation center. He also inspected a market that was reportedly closed because the person in charge had evacuated to higher ground, fearing a tsunami.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, who was with Aquino in Negros Oriental, yesterday ordered the Bureau of Fire Protection to mobilize personnel and resources in Central and Western Visayas to deliver truckloads of potable water to the earthquake-devastated areas and assist in the search and rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts.

Robredo issued the directive in the wake of reports that many quake-stricken areas in Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental and Bacolod City in Negros Occidental have either no potable water or their sources like water springs are “emitting mud” purportedly as a result of the tremor.

He directed BFP chief Samuel Perez to bring at least 10 fire trucks with potable water to the hardest-hit Guihulngan and ordered the BFP chiefs of the Negros Occidental cities of Escalante, Cadiz and Bacolod, which have two fire trucks each, to join in the effort. /INQUIRER