The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has activated its shelter cluster teams to attend to the housing needs of families and individuals displaced by the recent Magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Surigao del Sur
DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar said he ordered the agency’s shelter clusters teams in Caraga and Davao region to assist quake-hit communities in the province.
Housing Undersecretary Randy Escolango, in a memorandum, advised DHSUD regional directors to coordinate with local government units in affected areas for any assistance that can be extended to the victims.
Escolango said that the DHSUD, in compliance with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., is always ready to extend shelter assistance to victims of disasters.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Caraga and Davao regions were the areas most affected by the earthquake that struck last December 2.
Under an NDRRMC memorandum, the DHSUD will lead the assessment and provision of shelter needs as well as other relevant support services for disaster-affected areas.
The DHSUD’s rental subsidy and financial assistance program provides that families, whose houses are damaged by disaster, can receive up to P10,000 in cash assistance.
Meanwhile, state seismologists said the quake generated two aftershocks higher than magnitude 5 over the weekend.
The first aftershock occurred 44 kilometers north of Cagwait at 8:34 a.m. and the second at 1:27 p.m. some 96 kilometers north of Hinatuan.
Up to 2,568 aftershocks have been recorded since the quake jolted Surigao del Sur, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Another earthquake struck in Occidental Mindoro and jolted parts of Metro Manila last December 5.
Train services of LRT, MRT and even the Philippine National Railways were suspended to give way to the inspection of the railways. After a few hours, train services resumed after no structural damage was reported.
The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) checked the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal facilities and found no damage to the airport’s runway and terminals.