GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines — The business community here on Wednesday called for the swift restoration of electricity and rehabilitation of the highways for the city to rebound from Monday’s massive earthquake that cut power lines, flattened buildings, and ruptured roads.
“There is a need to restore normalcy through the restoration of electricity and roads destroyed by the quake for businesses to bounce back,” Miguel Rene Dominguez, president of the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc., told the Inquirer.
The magnitude 7.8 tremor just off the coastal town of Maasim in Sarangani province on Monday also triggered landslides and set off tsunami warnings across a swathe of the southern island.
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On Wednesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr flew to General Santos in hard-hit Sarangani to survey the damage to structures, including hospitals and school buildings.
From there, he ordered Department of Energy officials to restore power in cities and municipalities still reeling from blackouts, as he had been told that electricity was back in 85 percent of the affected areas.
He said roads still impassable to traffic had kept a crew of technicians from accessing two power plants that remained offline.
Marcos also directed agencies to focus on the immediate reopening of all roads for the swift delivery of assistance and on restoring the water supply.
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“Now, we are also working very quickly to reopen all access roads so that our vehicles can reach every area. This will allow us to deliver assistance, restore electricity and water systems, and speed up the delivery of government services here,” he said.
More time needed
As of Tuesday afternoon, electricity had been restored in 58 percent of General Santos City’s 26 barangays, according to distributor South Cotabato Electric Cooperative 2 (Socoteco 2).
Power was still down, however, in Glan, Sarangani’s most populous town that remains inaccessible by land, and in the municipalities of Kiamba, Maitum, and Maasim.
Power was partially restored in the other Sarangani towns of Alabel, the provincial capital, Malapatan, and Malungon, Socoteco 2 added.
Dominguez, a former Sarangani governor, said it would take some time for power to be totally restored in the service areas of Socoteco 2 since its jurisdiction spans at least 200 kilometers from Glan to Palimbang in Sultan Kudarat, with General Santos City in between.
The tremor also damaged other key infrastructures, including 41 roads and 18 bridges (six with limited access), according to the Office of Civil Defense in Region 12, which placed the initial infrastructure damage at P979.5 million.
Death toll
As of Wednesday noon, scores of business establishments here, including four big shopping malls, remained shut.
On the same day, rescuers pulled the body of Joey Deluvio from the rubble of a collapsed supermarket. Deluvio, 39, was one of two employees at a supermarket in General Santos that has been the focus of recovery efforts amid the lingering threat of aftershocks.
Life-detecting equipment had traced a “weak pulse” earlier in the operation, local rescuer Michelle Chua told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, but “when they got to the body… There were no signs of life.”
Deluvio’s body was found between two beams.
The national disaster agency raised the death toll to 45 on Wednesday, while the number of people missing jumped dramatically from four to 17.
However, the figure for fatalities did not yet include Deluvio, the civil defense office confirmed.
Most of the additional fatalities were from Davao Occidental province, and most were killed in landslides or collapsing buildings, civil defense official Rafaelito Alejandro said.
In General Santos, the President also promised P50,000 in financial aid each for families who lost members in the quake.
Financial aid
On top of this, he ordered the Department of Budget and Management to release financial assistance to Sarangani and South Cotabato provinces, which had sustained heavy damage. He did not specify the amount.
General Santos City Mayor Lorelie Pacquiao received P100 million from the national government to rehabilitate the City Hall, which remained closed to administrative operations and public transactions due to structural damage, according to the President.
Marcos inspected the damaged St. Elizabeth Hospital and said its structural integrity must first be assessed for the safe return of patients. He also went to Romana C. Acharon Central Elementary School and General Santos City National High School.
He ordered Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon to ensure hospitals and schools are safe and operational in view of the aftershocks.
Outdoors amid aftershocks
In Sarangani, authorities have logged more than 2,000 aftershocks since Monday, forcing many families to spend the night outdoors away from their damaged homes.
In Nagpan, Malungon, Emily Sotto, 36, said her family moved out of their hilltop home after the quake triggered a landslide and left visible cracks on the slope where their house stood.
“We slept by the roadside because the children were afraid up there,” she said. The quake dislodged their door, toppled their refrigerator, scattered household items, and cracked the concrete walls, Sotto recalled.
Fearing further ground movement, Sotto and her family decided to pack up and leave, carrying a mattress, some pillows and blankets, and the crib used for her in-laws’ baby. They found a safe-enough spot on the paved road at the base of the hill, where they stayed overnight.
In other parts of the province, similar scenes were reported as safety concerns in buildings and homes forced residents outdoors.
In Barangay Tuyan, Malapatan, residents also spend the night on roadsides, terraces and open yards.
“We slept outside and on terraces so we could quickly run if needed,” said ould23-year-old resident Michelle Cadariya. She said many houses in their area sustained heavy damage and were no longer safe for occupancy. “Our houses here are severely damaged; it is not safe to sleep inside.” —With a report from Agence France-Presse /atm
The Inquirer Foundation is calling for support for communities devastated by the recent magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Mindanao.
In partnership with the Philippine Red Cross, the foundation is amplifying appeals for food, clean water and other critical assistance for affected families.
Donors may send contributions directly to the Philippine Red Cross through its official transfer channels, the complete list is available on the PRC’s Facebook page.
The Philippine Red Cross has activated its emergency fund campaign and deployed teams on the ground to provide medical services, distribute relief goods and extend psychosocial support to affected families.
