The Department of Health put its workers on 24-hour duty in Batanes and Cagayan Valley in the wake of a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Itbayat that killed nine people and injured 63 others on Saturday.
More than 200 aftershocks were recorded as of Monday. A total of 911 families (2,963 persons) were affected in five barangays in Itbayat, Batanes and are currently accommodated in one evacuation center at the Itbayat Plaza.
A six-person mental health and psychosocial support team from the Mariveles Mental Hospital was sent to Itbayat Monday.
Damage to health facilities include cracks in Itbayat’s District Hospital and its Municipal Health Office. Due to the continuous aftershocks, its district hospital and the rural health unit are no longer functional with estimated damages worth P47 million.
An eight-man trauma team from the Cagayan Valley Medical Center was deployed Monday, composed of five doctors, a nurse, and two health emergency management staff.
Some P711,053 worth of logistics have been sent to Basco and Itbayat, including intravenous sets, trauma supplies, tetenus vaccines and serum, hygiene kits (150), water purification tablets, water containers filled with potable water and essential drugs and medicines.
Itbayat residents camped in makeshift tents in the town square as aftershocks continued to jolt the town.
Batanes Gov. Marilou Cayco told radio dzMM that President Rodrigo Duterte, who conducted an aerial inspection of the damage on Sunday, refrained from landing in town to keep the tents from being blown away.
“People weren’t standing when I arrived. They just looked at me. They are still in shock even now,” she said in Filipino. “Nobody is going back to their homes because the aftershocks are strong up to now.”
Leaders of the House of Representatives on Monday filed a resolution expressing sympathies and condolences to those affected by the twin earthquake and aftershocks that hit Itbayat, Batanes, on Saturday, July 27.
House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez of Leyte led the principal authors of House Resolution 139 that also expressed gratitude to those who immediately responded to the disaster and extended help.
Also on Monday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the military will play a major role in ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts in Itbayat, Batanes.
“For the Itbayat victims of the recent earthquake, the following will be provided by the DND and military: 1. Search and rescue of the victims. 2. Transport of the victims from Itbayat to the Hospital in Basco. 3. Transport of relief goods and other supplies from Manila and elsewhere to Basco and then to Itbayat,” he said.
Lorenzana added they will also be responsible for the transport of construction materials, intended for the repairs of damage government facilities and homes, from Manila and other places to Itbayat. With PNA
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