ALMOST a month since the first of a series of high-intensity earthquakes struck the province of Cotabato on October 16, proper sanitation and drinking water facilities remain a top priority among displaced residents in evacuation centers across Mindanao, said local government officials.

In Brgy. Ilomavis in Kidapawan City, around 1,400 evacuees were in need of toilets and access to potable water. With assistance from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) team of Energy Development Corporation (EDC) and employeevolunteers from its Mount Apo Geothermal Project and Southern Negros Geothermal Project and from the local community, six makeshift comfort rooms were constructed at the evacuation site at the Ilomavis base camp.

EDC’s Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response Unit from its Manila head office was also deployed to help employees as well as to aid in continuous clearing operations of the local government.

More than 4,000 residents of barangays Ilomavis and Balabag have received relief goods of rice, canned food, noodles, bottled water, medicines and tents from EDC.

Employees of EDC from its various sites as well as employees of other Lopez Group companies—First Philippine Holdings Corporation, First Gen Corporation, First Philippine Industrial Park, Rockwell Land Corporation, Lopez Inc., Lopez Holdings Corporation, Lopez Group Foundation Inc.—and private individuals pooled together their cash donations for the residents of Brgy. Ilomavis. 

“The Kapamilya spirit was certainly evident as employees wasted no time in doing what they could to help our communities in Kidapawan,” said Atty. Allan Barcena, head of EDC’s CSR-Public Relations Group.