Kidapawan under state of calamity

KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato -- Council members here have placed the city under a state of calamity following last week’s magnitude 6.3 earthquake that hit the entire province.

In a special session Wednesday, the city council passed two resolutions – one putting the city under a state of calamity and the other redirecting programs and projects of the city disaster office for relief operations of earthquake victims.

Psalmer Bernalte, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC), told city legislators the quake has affected more than 700 individuals who evacuated to safer grounds due to

aftershocks and rockfall in Barangay Ilomavis.

Bernalte also said that five out of 40 villages of Kidapawan were earlier placed under the state of calamity due to the earthquake.

It was the third time that the city council has declared a state of calamity this year. First, due to severe drought and second was brought about by a dengue outbreak.

Earlier on Wednesday, residents of Barangay Ilomavis rushed to the village covered court anew after another aftershock, a magnitude 4.5, rocked North Cotabato at 2:45 a.m.

Vice Mayor Jivy Roe Bombeo, who is acting city mayor, personally checked the situation of residents in Barangay Ilomavis early on the same day.

He said many Ilomavis residents whose houses were damaged or situated in landslide-prone areas have been staying at the village covered court at night.