DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Landslide-hit road networks in Davao Occidental are now cleared, while total humanitarian aid has topped P111 million nearly a month after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Mindanao.
Officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH XI) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD XI) shared the updates during the Wednesdays Media Forum at the Habi at Kape on July 1.
DPWH XI Spokesperson Dean Ortiz confirmed that the entire Malita-Jose Abad Santos (JAS) -Glan road network is now fully passable. Crews deployed immediately after the quake cleared 18 identified landslides along the mountainside highway in just six days.
“We were able to clear the landslides and make that road network passable in the shortest six days,” Ortiz said. “From Don Marcelino to JAS to Glan, it is passable.”
Ortiz said the road infrastructure remains structurally intact, with closures caused only by landslides on mountainslopes. DPWH XI also reported that the earthquake-formed natural dam in Barangay San Isidro, JAS, was breached on June 24. A joint team from DPWH XI, Davao Occidental provincial government, local government units (LGUs), and Davao City’s 911 Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team used two backhoes to drain the water.
Crews are now doing final clearing and routine road maintenance. DPWH XI did not release a total infrastructure damage cost, saying public structures sustained only minor damage.
Meanwhile, Atty. Hazel Annelou Cirunay, DSWD XI focal for disaster response operations management, information and communication, said total assistance had reached P111,987,557 as of 4 p.m. June 30.
The relief breakdown includes 58,160 family food packs, 4,583 non-food items, 2,220 ready-to-eat foods and emergency cash transfer (ECT) payouts to 7,317 beneficiaries. Cash payouts were given in Sarangani last week and are ongoing in JAS.
Cirunay said roadside makeshift trapal camps are “self-settled,” meaning families independently chose to stay outside their homes. JAS currently has 32 active evacuation centers housing 2,491 evacuees. In response to questions about evacuation centers being located in barangay halls, Cirunay said open spaces and schools are also being used, while some areas in JAS have been set up as tent cities.
DSWD will continue to assist with camp coordination and camp management until the local government unit fully takes over camp operations.
“If the situation stabilizes and the internally displaced persons themselves are ready to return to their respective homes, that’s the time they are allowed to return,” Cirunay said, noting that return decisions depend on safety assessments by the municipal social welfare and development office and the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office.
“If the situation stabilizes and the internally displaced persons themselves are ready to return to their respective homes, that’s the time they are allowed to return,” Cirunay said, noting that return decisions depend on safety assessments by the municipal social welfare and development office(MSWD) and the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office (MDRRMO).- Renier Cornelio/Mindanao State University-Marawi Intern
