Manila: Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) is actively taking part in a whole-of-nation response to aid quake-hit Cebu province, along with other national government agencies (NGAs) and non-government organizations (NGOs). "Alinsunod po ito sa direktiba ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. para sa pagsasanib-pwersa ng mga ahensya ng gobyerno at pribadong sektor sa pagtulong sa pagbangon ng ating mga kababayang nabiktima ng lindol sa Cebu (This is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to unite government agencies and the private sector in helping our fellow Filipinos affected by the earthquake in Cebu)," DHSUD Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling said in a news release.

According to Philippines News Agency, on Saturday, DHSUD officials joined an interagency response meeting in Bogo City, the epicenter of a magnitude 6.9 earthquake on Sept. 30. Undersecretaries Ed Robles and Ramon Quintin Allado and Assistant Secretary Hernando Caraig Jr. joined Philippine Red Cross chair Richard Gordon and other key officials from NGAs and NGOs during the meeting aimed at maximizing government and private response to aid the quake victims.

The DHSUD officials also inspected a residential area in Purok Joseph, Barangay Dakit in Bogo City, believed to be along the faultline that triggered the devastating earthquake. Together with officials of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, they visited the proposed "tent city" site that will serve as a temporary shelter for Bogo City residents who are either displaced due to damaged houses or still afraid to return home.

On Friday, Aliling sent the DHSUD team to Cebu for a ground assessment and to determine what assistance can be provided to the victims. Aliling likewise ordered DHSUD's key shelter agencies to suspend housing amortization of victims of the earthquake and recent tropical cyclones Nando and Opong in Bicol and Cebu in compliance with the directive of the President.