MANILA, Philippines — The national government, along with local disaster risk reduction management offices, are on top of the situation following a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in southern Mindanao.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said
all frontline disaster response and humanitarian units of the national government have been deployed to assist all the victims.
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"President Duterte is closely monitoring the progress of ongoing operations
to thoroughly evaluate the damage of the quake and all ground units
are ordered to work round-the-clock to make sure that everyone is safe and are ready for
possible aftershocks," Nograles said in a statement Monday.
The Cabinet official said the government would
be providing all the
assistance needed by the family of the lone casualty in the
earthquake.
The government will also
be providing medical
assistance to the 37 people injured following the quake.
"
Security forces have been deployed to ensure that all those who are in evacuation centers are safe and
the properties that they have left behind are adequately protected," Nograles said.
Meanwhile, local disaster reduction and response units have created community-based frontline emergency responders following the incident.
According to Nograles, each
sitio or barangay in the country should have well-trained emergency responders in times of emergencies.
All communities should be trained on how to respond to
all types of disasters and emergencies, he said.
"Real or imagined, we should prepare for the worst that may happen
in the future. It is always better to be safe than sorry," Nograles said.
Malacañang earlier assured the public that President Rodrigo Duterte is safe following the powerful quake that struck his home province.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the president and his daughter Kitty were at home when the earthquake struck.
"He (Duterte) is ok. He and his daughter Kitty were in their house when the quake struck. First Lady
Honeylet was on her way home [when the] ground trembled," Panelo said. — Patricia Lourdes Viray