(GROUND ZERO. President Duterte watches rescue and retrieval operations at the collapsed Chuzon Supermarket with Vice Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda, Porac Mayor Condralito de la Cruz, and Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Photo courtesy of Pampanga PIO)
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – President Duterte personally inspected on Tuesday the flattened Chuzon Supermarket in Porac as he assessed the extent of damage caused by Monday’s 6.1 magnitude earthquake.
Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Office of Civil Defense Administrator Ricardo Jalad and Vice Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda accompanied the president during his visit as search and rescue efforts were ongoing.
The collapsed four-storey Chuzon Supermarket has so far tallied five casualties, including a mother and her two children and two supermarket employees, while 14 are still reported missing.
Vice Gov. Pineda said he thanked the mayors of Apalit, Sto. Tomas and Guagua towns for ordering the temporary closure of Chuzon Supermarket branches in their respective areas to give way to structural assessments with people’s safety being the priority.
Meanwhile, based on the latest information from the Pampanga Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) on Thursday, there are 14 dead as a result from the quake, 126 injured and a total of 7,564 persons are affected by the earthquake while 23 houses were completely destroyed and 158 partially destroyed houses.
The data from the Regional DRRMC 3, tallied 16 dead and 86 injuries in Central Luzon.
Social Welfare and Development Secretary Ronaldo Bautista said they have already distributed 200 family food packs to affected families in Porac town where search, rescue and retrieval operations at Chuzon Supermarket is still ongoing.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III assured that medical expenses of the victims will be shouldered by the PhilHealth through the Department’s Point of Service program.
“We are also monitoring the absorptive capacity of DOH-retained hospitals and is in close coordination with district hospitals for needed assistance or complementation of staff ,” Duque added.
Pampanga’s second district (Lubao, Porac, Floridablanca, Sasmuan, Guagua, Sta Rita) is still under a state of calamity to enable the affected municipalities to immediately rebuild after the earthquake.
