Marcos Visits Earthquake-Hit Abra

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. flew to the earthquake-struck province of Abra to assess the current situation and be briefed by national and local officials on the latest developments.

This comes as Abra province was hit by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake on Wednesday morning at 8:43 am Philippine Standard Time, which caused heavy damage to property and infrastructure, landslides in the Cordillera Administrative Region, and damage to heritage sites in Ilocos Sur.

Marcos Jr. went to see the extent of the damage brought about by the earthquake today, after opting not to go to the quake-hit province yesterday as his presence would only hinder the work of concerned agencies and officials, according to him.

Present with Marcos Jr. are Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Secretary Antonio Lagdameo Jr., Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Jose Faustino, And Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Tulfo.

President Marcos then presided over a situation briefing in Bangued, Abra where he was updated with the latest developments in relief operations and the current situation in the affected areas.

Secretary Tulfo told Marcos that food supplies were already pre-positioned on the morning of the president’s State of the Nation Address and that the DILG was anticipating floods and landslides as the reason for the stockpiling of supplies.

Marcos, in the situation briefing, was adamant that the affected individuals need water.

Meanwhile, 227 aftershocks were tallied by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Wednesday. (GFB)