Local authorities in North Luzon are praised for their prompt earthquake response
The 282 local chief executives (LCEs) from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), the Ilocos Region, and the Cagayan Valley who quickly responded and took immediate action to ensure the safety of their constituents were commended by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Friday.
In a statement, DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said that 182 people were affected by Tuesday’s magnitude 6.4 earthquake, leaving no one dead.
He claimed that the recent earthquake’s LCE presence and prompt response made a significant difference in the government’s response operations, especially in areas around the epicenter.
We would like to express our gratitude to the 282 LCEs from CAR’s Regions 1 and 2 for covering their respective domains during the recent earthquake in Abra. Your quick thinking and action helped save a lot of lives. Although we are unable to forecast when earthquakes may occur, your leadership has been crucial in getting us through, said Abalos.
Based on information gathered by the DILG field offices, Abalos claimed that 74 of the 77 LCEs in the CAR were at work and in charge of the earthquake response efforts, while 125 of the 128 LCEs in the Ilocos Region and 85 out of 93 LCEs in the Cagayan Valley were also said to have been hard at work both before and after the earthquake.
According to him, the LCEs oversaw the evacuation of the impacted communities, the distribution of aid to the internally displaced people (IDPs), continual quick damage assessments, needs analyses, and the deployment of all heavy equipment and rescue resources in key locations.
They also called meetings of their respective Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (LDRRMCs), held emergency response meetings, activated the DRRMCs of all affected barangays for close coordination, and set up evacuation centers.
Only around three months had passed since the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Abra, which left 498 homes completely destroyed and 26,350 homes partially damaged.
According to Abalos, 52 families, or 182 people, were evacuated from CAR, where there were reports of 442 partially damaged homes, 14 completely destroyed homes, and one impassable road.
“Our LCEs are constantly making the rounds to assess needs and provide help, particularly in places that have been hardly impacted. The government also continues to provide assistance to our fellow Filipinos in the north, he said. Patuloy din po ang mga hakbangin ng pamahalaan sa pagtulong sa ating mga kababayan sa Norte.
In the wake of the aforementioned earthquake, Abalos praised LCEs who were there on the ground to attend to the needs of their people and respond to the immediate humanitarian efforts under their jurisdiction.
He said that one of these LCEs was the mayor of Balbalan, Kalinga, Almar Malannag, who personally visited the elderly residents of the Balbalan Hostel and moved them to the municipal building for their safety while the building’s structural soundness was being examined.
While Rosales, Pangasinan Mayor William S. Cezar and Cabugao, Ilocos Mayor Josh Cobangbang urgently gathered their municipal DRRMC for an emergency meeting to mobilize response efforts, Ilocos Norte mayors Vintar Mayor Richard A. Degala and Solsona Mayor Joseph A. De Lara personally conducted inspections and assessments of damages within their jurisdictions.
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