Full Cabinet complement starts rehab post ‘doublet’

Cabinet members gathered in Mati City on Saturday but without President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to coordinate the national government’s response and rehabilitation plans following two powerful earthquakes that struck Davao Oriental on 10 October.

The back-to-back tremors, a magnitude-7.4 quake in the morning and a magnitude-6.8 tremor on Friday evening, rocked the Municipality of Manay and surrounding areas, prompting the immediate mobilization of disaster response efforts.

Presidential Communications Secretary Dave Gomez said President Marcos’ “paramount concern is the safety and well-being of our people in the earthquake-stricken areas.”

“On the instructions of the President, all frontline agencies concerned were tasked to work around the clock to provide rescue and relief operations,” Gomez added.

The Cabinet secretaries held an inter-agency coordination meeting organized by the provincial government of Davao Oriental at the Subangan Tourism Complex in Mati City.

Agency heads, including Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian, Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon, Education Secretary Sonny Angara, and Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Leo Tereso Magno, met with Governor Nelson Dayanghirang to align relief and rehabilitation strategies across national and local agencies.

During the meeting, provincial officials, including those from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Provincial Engineer’s Office, Provincial Health Office, and Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, presented damage assessments and updates on ongoing relief operations.