Manay epicenter quake

DOH: All hospitals remain open except Manay provincial center

THE DEATH toll from the Magnitude 7.4 earthquake that rocked Davao Region on Oct. 10 rose to eight as the Department of Health (DOH) XI reported that all major hospitals remain functional, with the sole exception of the Davao Oriental Provincial Hospital (DOPH) in Manay.

As of Sunday, Oct. 12, three deaths were reported in Davao Oriental, while 330 were treated and discharged. As of this writing, only three beds remained functional. In Davao de Oro, the bodies of three miners were retrieved from tunnels, and 40 more were treated at the hospital and discharged. Davao City and Davao Occidental also reported one quake-related death each.

Atty. Lovela Tacder, Davao Oriental Provincial Office public information officer, clarified the situation: “The Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center is fully functional. However, the DOPH-Manay has many damages and cracks. The good news is that just this morning, some of the DOPH-Manay patients have been transferred to the Super Health Center in Manay.”

The DOH is currently on a Blue Code Alert and has activated its emergency operations center. The agency also deployed various teams and logistics to affected areas, including:

• Assorted drugs, medicines, and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) commodities.
• Human Resources for Health (HRH) to the affected areas, specifically DOPH-Manay.
• A team from the Southern Philippines Medical Center to Manay.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPPS) and WASH teams are also scheduled for deployment.

The Provincial Information Office announced that a mass will be held at the provincial government covered court on Monday, Oct. 13, as a symbolic “go signal” that the Capitol is ready for service, with the Incident Command Post located there. 

Tacder said the new Capitol building itself remains unusable due to structural issues that predate the earthquake.

Joseph Randy Loy of the Provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office reported that engineers assessed minor cracks in various Davao de Oro hospitals. Tents have been established outside facilities in Maragusan and Montevista to accommodate patients who remained anxious about aftershocks.

Power and landslide assessment

Power interruptions were reported during the quake, but all lines under the Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative have been stabilized.

In Davao de Oro, the governor and officials conducted an aerial survey, followed by a ground assessment by the MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau), PENRO, and PDRRMO teams in the Gumayan and Napnapan areas.

Loy confirmed that the death casualties in Davao de Oro were miners retrieved from tunnels, and no houses in Gumayan were reported affected. A meeting is scheduled to discuss actions relative to mining areas.

Technical teams are still validating the structural integrity of government buildings and bridges where minor cracks were reported.