Memorial service held for Negros quake victims

MANILA, Philippines - A memorial service was held yesterday for the victims of the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that ravaged Negros Oriental recently, as rescue teams started packing their equipment for today’s scheduled termination of the retrieval operations.

In a text message to reporters in Manila, Defense Undersecretary Benito Ramos, executive officer of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, described the memorial service in Barangay Planas, Guihulngan City as solemn with the survivors and those who lost their loved ones in the quake, weeping on the sidelines.

The tremor left 68 villagers dead and missing, and destroyed or damaged 15 bridges, five cottages, nine churches, 660 houses and 14 chapels.