President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., amid his attendance at the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit and other related activities in San Francisco, California, is monitoring and being apprised of the situation in the Philippines, after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook Davao Occidental province on Friday afternoon.
In an interview with the press, President Marcos said that he is glad to see that all government agencies are closely monitoring the situation in earthquake-stricken areas without waiting for his directives.
“I’m happy to be able to say that the government agencies do not need directives from me anymore. They know what to do … nagrereport sila sa akin kung ano ba talagang nangyari and what are the initial reports,” President Marcos told the Malacañang Press Corp.
President Marcos sat down in a Kapihan forum with the press on Friday afternoon in San Francisco, California where he provided updates on the developments of the government’s response when the earthquake struck Davao Occidental on Friday.
Asked if he sees the need to cut short his official visit to the US, President Marcos said that he will go home when necessary.
“Well, if there’s something that needs to be done that cannot be done by anybody but myself, I will go home,” President Marcos said.
“But as I said, alam na nila ang gagawin. That’s my hope – we tried to organize the government in such a way that these are standard operating procedures already. You don’t have to question what do we do next, nakasulat na lahat ‘yan,” he added.
The chief executive also emphasized that the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and other agencies are reporting to him about the situation in Davao.
Despite all efforts in place, President Marcos emphasized that the government will “keep looking and see and determine, and assess what the damage really has been.”
As the President orders disaster agencies to take prompt action, the operations of all small power utility groups in Eastern and Western Mindanao are now back to normal, according to the Department of Energy. |PND
