Following today’s activation of the Response Cluster of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), as head of the cluster, has ordered the Quick Response Teams of DSWD-Field Offices in Regions IX, X, XI, XII, and CARAGA which were hit by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake to be on red alert status.

Likewise, the Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC) based in the DSWD Central Office is continuously coordinating with the said Field Offices for updates on the extent of damage and number of affected families and individuals brought about by the tremor.

As of 3pm, DSWD-Field Office XII has reported that the towns of Glan and Malapatan in Sarangani Province have been affected but there are no casualties.

In Glan, three were injured due to falling debris, and hit-and-run following evacuation. Some structures were damaged such as the Glan Port, a supermarket, a hospital, the municipal hall, and a police station.

In Malapatan, a house was reported to be partially damaged.

Also, there are no reported damages in properties nor any casualties and displaced families in Regions X and XI.

The DSWD Central Office (CO), concerned DSWD-Field Offices and the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) have a total stockpiles and standby funds amounting to ₱1,226,408,215.57 which can be used for disaster operations.

DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, although attending today’s ASEAN Summit of Leaders at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), is still on top of the situation and gave instructions to all DSWD disaster teams to provide immediate assistance to the affected local government units. ###