PRC to set up 'tent city' in Cebu

The Philippine Red Cross will set up a “tent city” to serve as a community for families whose houses were destroyed in the powerful earthquake in northern Cebu, the PRC said yesterday.

- By RHODINA VILLANUEVA

According to the PRC, the tent city would include a medical tent, where health services will be made available, a community kitchen and bathing areas.

At least 60 of the planned 2,500 tents were already assembled and ready for use in Barangay Cogon, Bogo City, with each tent accommodating at least five family members.

“There is a plan to assemble additional tents, but it depends if the government is able to identify available space,” the PRC said, noting that at least 2,200 families were displaced and are in urgent need of shelter in various localities.

Pope Leo XIV, who visited Cebu thrice in the past when he was still the prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine, expressed on Sunday his closeness with Filipinos and mentioned for the second time his prayers for the victims of the 6.9-magnitude earthquake.

According to CBCPNews, the 70-year-old pope said during his Angelus in St. Peter’s Square: “I express my closeness to the dear Filipino people and in particular I pray for those who are most severely affected by the consequences of the earthquake.”