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market building in Porac, Pampanga, as the

toll from the 6.1-magnitude earthquake that
struck Luzon on Monday stayed at 16 dead'
-b.: ofthe offrce
'|of Ricardo lalad, administrator
Civil Defense.(oCD), said on Wednes-
day there was no change in the figures on
. casualties: 15 dead in Pampanga and one
from Zambales.
Ialad said he was still optimistic on the
teirch-rnd-r.scu. oPerarions being con-
ducted by ihe military police and firefighten
at Chuzon Supermarket in Porac, even ifsigns
o[ life were tast detected on luesday
"Underthe supermarket, there are still wo
' floorings below Our apparatus has a limit of
rangg but it can still detect signs of life, " he
told reporte$ in an int€ffiew.
Ialad said rescuers were drillinga hole
into
',
the flooring to retrieve two dozens ofpeople
tapped in the suPermarket.
' siin. C"n. RowenTolentino, commander
of thi phllippine Army's 703rd lnfantry
Brigade, said nine suwivots were recoveted
frnm the supermarket
lhuzon's management told authorities the
suDermarket's record section was filled with
diris and it was uncenain wheLher employ
ees managed to escaPe

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ffiSURVIVORS FROM A1
Rescuers
A magnitude 4.5 aftershock hit
Zambales and jolted Parts of Met-
io \tanila on WednesdaY dawn,
the srate seismologY bureau said'
Philippine lnstitute of Volcanol-
ogy and SeismologY (Phivolcs)
rese:rrh asistant Bheirz Rodriguez
said lhe tremor at 2:02 a m. was the
bigesr recorded aftershock so far'
'ir is possibleto have more atter-
sh,rls,' Rodriguez said, although
rtre number is slowing down
\ of 7 a.m. on WednesdaY,
?hirolcs has recorded 622 after-
sho-is. The strength of the after-
sh..rk ranged from magnilude ouse, "to ,uch an extent that th€
I .-1 r: 1.5 and intensities 1 to 3.
l0 injured in Samar
Folloiring the unrelated 6 5-mag-
nitude earthquake that hit Samar
Island on TuesdaY, the National
DisasterRisk Reduction and Man-
agem€nt Council (N DRRNIC) said
on \\'ednesday 10 p€$ons were
inlured in Eastern VisaYas
A total of 35 structures and
buildings suffered damage while
t\r'o provinces, Eastern and
Northern Samar, exPerienced
Power outages. Power was te-
stored on WednesdaY.
Roads remain passable and no
maior damage has been rePorted
so far following the eathquake that
struck San Julian in Eastem Samar'
The NDRRMC maintained its
"blue alert" status, which was
prompted by the first earthquake
that struck Castilleios, Zambales
N4onday afternoon.
to
LGUs ordered
inspect buildings
The Department of the lnterior
and Local Government (DILC)
has ordered all local government
units (LGUS) in Luzonand VisaYas
that were affected bY the recent
earthquakes to immediatelY in-
spect all buildings and inftastruc-
ture to ensure Public safetY
lntedor Secretary Eduardo Aio
on WednesdaY urged the LGUs
to coordinate with the Bureau of
Fire Protection to ensure that ali
buildings comPlied with Presi-
dential Decree 1096, the "National
Building Code ofthe PhiliPPines"
(NBCP) and RePublic Aa 9514 or
the "Fire Code ofthe PhiliPPines "
Under the NBCP, a dangerous
building is an establishment that
' has been damaged bY fire earth-
cuake, wind, flood or bY anY ottrer
structunl strength or the stability
it
thereof is materiallY less than
was before fte catastroPhe and is
less than the minimum require-
ments ofthe code "
Aflo said all local chief execu-
lives should not be complacent
in implementing PreemPtive
measures to make sure that all
establishrients are safe to use.
'lf you see anY Ponion of
buil<ling wrecked, warPed, buck-
. ledor settledto such an extentthat
walls or other structual Portions
have materially less resistance to
earthquake, You should immedi-
ately inform the building owners.
There should be no comPromise
when it comes to Public safety,"
he added in a statement
Aio also directed all DILG region-
al directors and provincial directors
to assess the readiness of the LGUs
during and after the eanhquakes
thgt strudqon MondaY
'All DILG field offices must
ass€ss the effectiveness and the
lapses of the recent eafihquake
drills conducted bY the LCUs.
Check if the LGUs have immedi-
ately set up their ucdcal opera-
don centers. Have the local chief
r rr?nJr yoAeg'r
executives convene their respective
Local Disaster Risk Reduction ald
Managemqnl Councils," he said.'
The Philippine National Police
(PNP) previouslY declared a full
alen status in Eastem Samar aher
the province was hit bY a magni'
tude 6.5 earthquake on TuesdaY.
PNP chief Oscar AlbalaYde
also ordered Brig. Cen Dionardo
Carlos, Eastern VisaYas regional
directot to activate the Disaster
lncldent Management Task CrouP
to assist the PeoPle there
Clark resumes
oPerations
Clark lnternational Airyort Cory.
(CIAC) resumed operations on
Wednesday afternoon after au-
thorities repaired the damage at
the terminal building caused bY
MondaY's quake.
"Clark airport is business as
usual, ftom counters to manifest to
boarding gates," CIAC Jaime Melo
said in a statement on WednesdaY
- rnt btart airport was closed
and flights were susPended for
a 24 hours beginning 7:40 P.m.
on Monday to insPect the airPofi
terminal stucture and facilities for
safety purposes.
According to Goddes HoPe Libi-
ran, Transportation assistant secre-
taryfor Communications, 110 fl iShts
were affected while the estimated
cgst of damage was P30 million.
Cleadng operations and rePairs
began TuesdaY morning in the
predeparture area
Melo earlier said stranded Pas-
sengers due to the earthquake
would be "Prioritized once the
partial oPerations resume."
Shelters with food and water
were provided to tourists and
travelers affected bY the flight
cancellations.
The new Clark lnt€rnational Air-
port New Terminal Building sfill
e-)
under construction, was safe fiom
haim, including the New Clark
City Phase 1 where a govemment
centet sports stadium, aquatics
center and an athletes' dbrmitory
were 'beingreadied for the South-
easrAsian Games this November."
Arrovo visits
victiin'r
A day after the second distdct of
Pampanga was Placed in a sate
of calamiry House SPeaker Gloria
Macapagal AnoYo on WednesdaY
personallY condoled with the
families of quake victims.
Among the victims visited bY
the Pampanga lawmaker earlY in
the moming were Olivia and Niela
Paule in Lubao; Adrian OcamPo,
Sophia Arbis, IivulYn Vera and
Gerome Enriquez in Porac; and
Manily, lacob and Hailee de la
Cruz in Cuagua, PamPanga
Arroyo also extended finan-
cial and burial assistance to the
familiesbefore headingto the col-
laosed four-story Chuzon SuPer-
.arket and Porac Church, which
were among the establishments
heavily damaged bY the quake.
Japanese Ambassador Koji
Haneda sent condolences to the
families of the quake fatalities
"We would like to extend our
sincere condolences to the fami-
Iies of the deceased and exPress
our sympathies 1o all those af-
flicted by the lecent eafthquakes
in Luzon and Eastem Samar' As
a counfiY that has been tackling
with eanhquakes, IaPan is readY to
orovide assistance needed bY the
'Philippines
to the extent possible'
We sincerelY wish for the earlY
recovery of the disaster-affected
regions," he said.
DEMPSEY REYEs,
TYRONE C. PIAD. ROY D.R.
NARRA AND DIVINA NOVA
JOY DELA CRUZ