President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a call with government officials after the magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck Sarangani. Photo from the Presidential Communications Office
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directed government agencies to remain vigilant of aftershocks following the magnitude 6.8 quake that jolted Sarangani.
Last Friday, Sarangani and surrounding areas were struck by the earthquake, which left at least nine people dead.
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In a video call recording released to the media on Monday, Marcos told officials from responding agencies that he had received their reports. The President was in Honolulu at the time to visit the Indo-Pacific Command.
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鈥淎ll of you have it well in hand so let鈥檚 just be vigilant, keep watching, we must pay attention to aftershocks because sometimes maraming nagiging casualty sa aftershock kasi akala nila tapos na, pinapasok yung mga bahay, pinapasok yung mga building, so bantayan natin ng mabuti yon,鈥� Marcos said.
(All of you have it well in hand so let鈥檚 just be vigilant, keep watching, we must pay attention to aftershocks because sometimes there are a lot of casualties in aftershocks because they think it is done, they go back to houses and buildings, so we need to safeguard that well.)
READ: VP Duterte calls for calm after Mindanao earthquake
Present in the call were Department of Social Welfare and Development Usec. Edu Punay, Department of Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, and other officials from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
Vice President Sara Duterte is serving as the country鈥檚 caretaker while Marcos is abroad. However, she was not seen in the clip sent to the media.