Philippines - IOM is part of a joint assessment now taking place in the worst-affected part of the Visayas region of the Philippines, following Tuesday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake.

Bohol and Cebu have reported the most damage to lives and properties, and local government in both provinces have declared a state of disaster.

The Philippines government has asked IOM, the UN World Food Programme and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to assist.

The head of IOM Philippines’ Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit is now in Bohol as part of a joint assessment team, which is led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator.

Initial reports point to up to three million people affected by the earthquake, with 59 evacuation centres now set up near Bohol, the epicentre. There are 92,179 displaced (19,025 displaced families) temporarily living in the centres. But an estimated 150,000 people are staying in open spaces or tents for fear of aftershocks.

About 1.3 million workers are reported to have lost their livelihoods in Bohol alone, a province which depends heavily on agriculture and tourism.

At a UN-sponsored donors forum on Bohol today, IOM Philippines Chief of Mission Marco Boasso emphasized that IOM supports the government’s efforts in alleviating suffering and the search for durable solutions. “The government’s resources are severely stretched with disasters taking place one after the other,” he noted. “The humanitarian response here will be complex and will demand a lot of human and financial resources.”

For more information please contact

Marco Boasso
IOM Manila
Email: mboasso@iom.int