Negros Oriental: Rebuilding lives after magnitude-6.9 quake

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — About 11 months since the magnitude-6.9 earthquake rocked many parts of the Visayas and Mindanao on February 6, 2012, the province of Negros Oriental is still reeling from unprecedented devastation.

The quake claimed the lives of 58 people, injured 308 others, displaced 44,360 families, left 63 missing and presumed dead, and damaged hundreds of billions of pesos in government and private infrastructure, agriculture and other properties.

People of Negros Oriental continue to hope that the national government can speed up the allocation process for the much-needed funds to rebuild the province from the carnage left behind by the quake.

Rehabilitation efforts have been continuing to date, albeit in seemingly crawling pace, despite collaboration from public and private organizations or agencies, local and international. Pledges in various forms of assistance were made but, as the year ended, many of these have yet to be fulfilled.

Catastrophic Event

Negros Oriental is located in a seismically active area in the Philippines, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). In the past, there have been many small- and large-scale earthquakes in Negros, majority of them tectonic in origin and generated by the Negros-Sulu Trench and the Philippine Fault Zone, which pass through Masbate, Leyte and eastern part of Mindanao.

Phivolcs said other active faults on the islands are the Central Negros Fault and the Cebu Lineaments although seismicity for these structures is low. Most often, perhaps even at least once or twice a year, Negros Oriental experiences small- and medium-sized tremors, attributed by Phivolcs to the shifting tectonic plates of the Negros Trench located in the southwest paft of Negros island.

On 6th of February 2012, residents of Negros Oriental, a province of an estimated P1.28 million population, were literally caught flat-footed when the magnitude-6.9 quake shook the Visayas at around 11:49 a.m. Panic sent hordes of people to flee low areas to the uplands, especially after the issuance of the tsunami alert.

Media reports said the earthquake was felt in various intensities as far as 200 kilometers from the epicenter, said Phivolcs. It was chaos all over, such as in Dumaguete where traffic jammed to a halt, business establishment closed down and families gathered together for the perceived danger. At least five strong aftershocks followed within minutes of each other, more particularly in the towns and cities in the 1st district of Negros Oriental where the epicenter was located.

Power went out, water supply disconnected, wireless communications and landlines cut off, bridges broke, roads split wide open, poles and trees toppled, buildings cracked and larged portions of the mountains in La Libertad town and Guihulngan City had landslides that buried many families and their houses.

Thousands of badly-shaken and trembling people cried, ran out to the streets, evacuated their houses and prayed without letup as fear of the uncertain outcome gripped them. Schools cancelled classes and send students home, while government offices were forced to close also. There was panic everywhere as authorities kept on appealing, via live radio broadcast, for the public to calm down.

In the following days, weeks, months and until today, many more aftershocks though of lesser intensity have been reported and recorded in Guihulngan, the hardest hit site, and the towns of La Libertad, Jimalalud, Tayasan and Ayungon, among others.

The death toll was officially at 58, said PDRRMC, and 24 of these were in Guihulngan, 15 in La Libertad, 10 in Jimalalud, three each in Tayasan and Ayungon and one in Bindoy. The number of injured was 308, while at least 63 people were still missing until today; many of them believed to have been buried by landslides.

Over 2,000 houses were totally damaged and close to 10,000 more were partially damaged. The cost of damage to bridges, roads, public works and water works amounted to P665 million, while damage to barangay roads, spillways, schoolbuildings and hospitals was pegged at over P507.3 million.

Initial damage to agriculture was estimated to reach P56 million covering a total of 2,190 hectares of rice and corn fields in at least five towns. Affected farmers numbered 1,648 in rice and 2,732 in corn. Livestock destruction cost over P1.03 million.

The aftermath: Rehabilitation efforts

After that disaster struck, many of the victims have been living in makeshift homes and tents, awaiting promises from the government for free housing. The National Housing Authority and the DSWD have yet to provide core shelter housing for them.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council had set aside P1 million for the construction of temporary shelters for a number of families in the landslide-hit village of Solonggon in La Libertad town.

According to PDRRMC executive officer-designate and Capitol spokesperson Adrian Sedillo, there is still much work to be done for the province to recover fully.

PDRRMC records show that the cost of aid given to Negros Oriental for relief and rehabilitation amounted to more than P62.1 million. Other funds came from DSWD that shelled out over P26.27 million, local government units with over P11.7 million, and NGOs and others totalling over P24 million.

Sedillo said the provincial government has allocated P20-million from its Quick Response Fund, and external donors gave out P7-million in cash or in kind for the repair of damaged infrastructures.

The administration of Governor Roel Degamo has allocated an additional P2 million for the rehabilitation of the William Villegas Memorial Hospital in Guihulngan City, P2.4 million for shallow wells installation, P1.6 million for food commodities and P7 million more for other goods.

To recover fully from the catastrophic quake, the province needs more funds, said Sedillo. adding that it had already requested various agencies for the purpose. PDRRMC records said that the government would need at least P30 billion to repair damaged irrigation systems alone.

Despite numerous efforts on rebuilding lives and reconstruction, government officials and the public have learned so many lessons from the tragedy. It will take many years before the consequences of an unforeseen event of such magnitude can be truly overcome, said LGU officials, As earthquake experts say, while these could not be predicted, the best course of action is preparedness.