Duterte Visits Quake-Hit Porac

President Rodrigo R. Duterte visited this afternoon the municipality of Porac to personally see and assess the extent of damage caused by Monday’s 6.1 magnitude earthquake.

He inspected the ongoing search, rescue and retrieval operations at the flattened four-storey Chuzon Supermarket which has so far 12 casualties, 9 injuries and 14 missing as of the 6 pm data from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council 3 (RDRRMC 3).

The earthquake, per 6 pm data from RDRRMC 3, claimed 16 lives and 86 injuries in Central Luzon.

Meanwhile, Sangguniang Panlalawigan today placed Pampanga under the state of calamity to enable the province and the people to immediately rebuild after the earthquake.

“The tremor damaged about 10 churches and caused cracks on the lahar-catchment FVR Megadike. The actual extent of the damages on public infrastructure and private properties is still being assessed,” Pampanga Vice Governor and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Vice Chairperson Dennis Pineda said.

He also asked the mayors of Apalit, Sto. Tomas and Guagua to order the temporary closure of Chuzon Supermarket branches in their respective areas to give way to structural assessments with people’s safety being the priority.

Moreover, Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) reiterated that Monday’s earthquake did not cause any damage to the new passenger terminal building being constructed at the Clark International Airport (CRK) as well as the venues to be used for the 2019 South East Asian Games (SEA Games) in New Clark City (NCC).

The new terminal building is a project of BCDA and Department of Transportation. Sports facilities being constructed for the SEA Games, on the other hand, are part of NCC Phase 1A being developed by BCDA and its partner, MTD Philippines.

There were also no reported casualties and major incidents in both project sites. Work resumed immediately Tuesday morning at both sites after the thorough inspection showed no damage to any of the structures.

The new terminal building at CRK, to be finished mid-2020, will increase passenger capacity by eight million.

NCC National Government Administrative Center (NGAC), which includes the sports facilities, will be finished by September 2019. NGAC also involves the development of back-up offices of various agencies to ensure continuous business operations and services for the people in case of disasters or natural calamities.

“The fact that the NGAC project did not suffer any damage attests to its viability and effectiveness as a government resiliency center, and a site for Integrated Operations Center for national contingencies,” BCDA said. (CLJD-PIA 3)