Quake victims need help

RESIDENTS in Southern and Central Mindanao are calling for immediate help as they are currently experiencing crisis in food, water and shelter, reports from the city government revealed.

The magnitude 6.5 earthquake that hit Tulunan, North Cotabato and affected nearby provinces caused severe damages to several establishments including schools, houses and buildings.

Many residents, particularly in Makilala and Cotabato, have been asking for help in some social media sites to reach local government units. Mayor Sara Duterte said the city government has taken up actions to aid the quake’s victims. She said there have been numerous calls from individuals and establishments wanting to help Mindanao following the series of earthquakes that hit communities in Cotabato. Since (the city) does not have evacuees and victims to be taken care of, the mayor said the local government will direct donations “to where they are needed the most this time — the provinces in of Davao del Sur and North Cotabato.” The mayor visited the affected place to distribute relief goods and services to the victims. Archbishop Romulo Valles, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, has also mandated priests and churches to extend help to the quake’s victims. Trucks and vehicles containing the needed help for the victims are dropping by Makilala and Cotabato. Organizations, business sectors, and some individuals from different places in the country have been sending donations to the victims. Donations are still open for the people of Cotabato and Davao del Sur. Canned goods, bottled waters, tents or trapals, beddings such as blankets and malongs, toiletries, and medicines are the most needed things to be handed for the victims. Beg People displaced by the recent series of major quakes and aftershocks trooped to the highway in Makilala, North Cotabato since Friday, asking for water, food, and tarpaulin sheets from motorists. They listed on a white recycled tarp their immediate needs and displayed it beside the highway for motorists to see. Responding motorists on board luxury vehicles stopped and distributed bottled water and other food supplies to quake victims who stay by the roadside in tents at night. Speaking for the provincial crisis management team, provincial board member Jumar Cerebo, however, appealed to “good Samaritans” to course their assistance through local government units and not to distribute the aid on their own to avoid being mobbed by quake victims. “Motorists who distributed bottled water to quake victims in front of a school were mobbed by unruly and thirsty residents. It was good that nobody was hurt,” he said. But some motorists who bought bread, biscuits, and dry goods in other towns continued to give aid to quake victims queuing up beside the highway. “I pity them. It’s better to help than receive something,” one motorist driving a Toyota Fortuner said in a brief interview after distributing foodstuff to some 50 people. Eugene Villamor, 30, a quake victim, posted on social media that the people were glad that good Samaritans were coming over to help them. “Your generosity will return to you,” he said.