The provincial government of Negros Oriental, through the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Council (PDRRMC) on Wednesday passed a resolution allocating a total of P6-million as relief aid for disaster-stricken areas.
The PDRRMC convened on Wednesday after TuesdayӼs magnitude 7.2 earthquake which hit Central Visayas and left a trail of devastation in the provinces of Cebu and Bohol.
Minor damage to personal property and infrastructure were initially reported in the other two Central Visayas provinces of Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
During a full body meeting Wednesday afternoon, the PDRRMC moved to allocate P2 million for Bayawan City and P1 million for Basay in Negros Oriental, which were badly hit by the unprecedented massive flooding last October 6.
Also, the PDRRMC set aside P1 million each for Bohol and Cebu which was hardest hit by Tuesday’s earthquake, and another P1-million for the war-torn Zamboanga City.
The financial assistance will be taken from the Province’s P21 million Quick Response Fund, a part of the calamity fund.
PDRRMC executive director Adrian Sedillo, in response to a query during the meeting, said the town of Sta. Catalina in Negros Oriental, was not included in the relief assistance as the local government unit had not declared a state of calamity, despite being also inundated by the floods.
Bayawan City and Basay had already both declared under a state of calamity.
Meanwhile, the PDRRMC is still awaiting reports from the provincial engineer’s office as to the extent of damage caused by the killer quake that left numerous people dead and many others wounded in Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor.
Sedillo said all roads in Negros Oriental are passable, while initial reports by inspecting teams said very little damage, such as cracks on public and private buildings, broken water pipelines, a leaning electric post and a collapsed bridge approach roadside railing were reported to PDRRMC.
The Department of Education has also suspended classes in public schools in Dumaguete to assess the structural integrity of school buildings while private schools also did the same.
Silliman University announced Wednesday that suspension of classes at the grade school and high school levels will last through to Friday and will resume on Monday.
SU information director and spokesperson Mark Raygan Garcia said the decision, which originally was to suspend classes only on Wednesday, considers more time to do a structural integrity assessment on all buildings on campus; aftershocks that continue to be experienced and Friday being a holiday.
The provincial government is awaiting word from Malacañang, as is the practice, to declare every 3rd Friday of October a special holiday for Negros Oriental as part of the annual Buglasan Festival celebration.
On the other hand, the Land Transportation Office district offices in Negros Oriental also closed on Wednesday afternoon following a directive from LTO Region 7 Director Arnel Tansingco declaring that all LTO district offices in Region 7 must suspend operations until further notice.
LTO-Bais City, Negros Oriental district chief Janine Flores Lawas said they were ordered to close due to strong shocks.
“We will not risk the personnel and clients. Resumption of services will be until further notice depending on the declaration of the provincial government concerned and the proper agency to declare the safety to return to work”, the LTO Regional Director said in a text message to concerned LTO chiefs.
The LTO has three district offices in Negros Oriental, namely, in Bais City, Dumaguete City and Bayawan City.
Lawas said her office incurred minor structural damages such as cracks on the wall and perimeter fence. (PNA)
