ANGELES CITY -- City officials and disaster frontline offices here have hit the ground running to ensure the safety of the people of this highly-urbanized city following the 6.1-magnitude earthquake that hit Pampanga and other parts of Luzon on April 22.
The Angeles City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (ACDRRMO), led by Chief Francis Pangilinan, conducted an infrastructure resiliency audit following the suspension of work ordered by Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan on April 23.
The ACDRRMO and the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) led an ocular inspection of all government-owned buildings prior to the assumption of the operations to ensure structural integrity.
“Auditing is still in progress and we are consolidating all data pertaining to the damage and casualties related to the magnitude 6.1 earthquake,” Pangilinan said.
As per the assessment of Engineer Leopoldo Cura, Architect Norbert Lagman and the rest of the CEO personnel, the team advised the assumption of government operations as the Angeles City Hall, City Library, City College of Angeles, ONA, San Nicolas Public Market obtained only minor damages.
Also, based on the data of the local government, a total of 103 victims were hurt during the onslaught of the earthquake in the city, leaving one casualty identified as Rosita Masiclat, 74, from Barangay San Jose.
Fifty-four patients were admitted and were given prompt medical attention at the Ospital ning Angeles (ONA), while some were admitted to other medical facilities in the city.
The City Health Office (CHO), headed by Dr. Lenario Santos, also mobilized a medical team coordinating with ONA and other agencies to provide basic life support (BLS) and other emergency services.
“We are also closely working with the Department of Health (DOH)-Region III in reporting some needed data by the agency. We have also activated our barangay-based medical assistance and deployed our equipment to assist all 33 health centers in the entire city,” said Santos.
The city’s disaster management team was also deployed to assist in the search, rescue, and retrieval operations at the ground zero of the collapsed Chuzon Supermarket in the Municipality of Porac.
Meanwhile, the Holy Rosary Church, located at the Heritage District of Angeles City, was ordered closed to the public as it incurred ceiling cracks and major posts damage.
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) was quick to respond, as it conducted an ocular inspection inside the "important cultural property."
The Apung Mamacalulu Shrine in Barangay Lourdes Sur also incurred damages on its interiors during Monday’s earth jolt.
Vice Mayor Bryan Matthew Nepomuceno and Councilor Edu Pamintuan opted to conduct rounds of ocular inspections around the city instead of attending to their campaign sortie slated in Barangay Pulung Cacutud.
Nepomuceno and the younger Pamintuan visited ONA to secure the operation of the hospital especially in attending to the needs of patients sustaining injuries from the earthquake.
The vice mayor has been hands-on in coordinating with the Angeles Electric Corporation regarding the power supply and outage, while Pamintuan monitored various points of the city at the Angeles City Emergency and Disaster Command Center to assess the situation and monitor emergency calls to activate the Emergency and Disaster Response Unit.