Cebu: In line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s deep commitment to comfort the families and individuals affected by the 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Cebu, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will provide burial assistance to families whose loved ones were among the fatalities in Tuesday’s tremor.

According to Philippines News Agency, Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) announced that the Department’s Field Office 7 – Central Visayas will also be providing PHP10,000 cash assistance to the families who lost their loved ones. “The DSWD’s Field Office Central Visayas is now accounting the number of casualties and their location. Our social workers will also talk to the concerned families to inform them that the DSWD will shoulder the burial expenses of their loved ones,” Dumlao stated.

The death toll from the powerful quake that rocked Central Visayas continues to rise, along with the number of injured and missing individuals, based on reports by Cebu’s Provincial Disaster Response and Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO).

The province of Cebu has been placed under a state of calamity to give the provincial government the ability to respond quickly and effectively, as well as mobilize resources, extend immediate assistance to affected families, and implement rehabilitation measures for immediate recovery.

From Masbate, where he assisted the President in distributing cash aid to 600 Opong-affected families, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian was directed by Marcos to proceed to Cebu to check on the condition of the families severely affected by the earthquake.

Gatchalian will be going around Cebu to ensure that all the urgent needs of affected families and evacuees are immediately addressed by the DSWD Field Office 7.

The DSWD chief has instructed Undersecretary Diana Rose Cajipe of the Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) and Assistant Secretary for Community Engagement Ulysses Aguilar to oversee the appropriate disaster response aid in Cebu in line with the directive of the President to prioritize immediate assistance to affected communities.

The DSWD team, which includes Central Visayas Regional Director Shalaine Marie Lucero, is now in Bogo City to conduct damage and needs assessment in the area, which was the hardest hit by the earthquake.