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Mobilize mental health professionals: Sen. Francis “Tol” Tolentino asks the Department of Health (DOH) if there has been a plan to mobilize mental health professionals or the critical incidents stress debriefers (CISD) to help the victims of earthquake in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur. “The reason why I raised this, because this is a reflection of how our good secretary once confirmed would react, not just to earthquakes, but also in future calamities involving typhoons, tsunamis, among others,” Tolentino said during the Commission on Appointment (CA) hearing, Tuesday, December 5, 2023, on the ad interim appointment of Teodoro Herbosa as secretary of the Department of Health (DOH). In response, Herbosa said the agency has psycho-social health workers who monitor the Surigao del Sur earthquake together with the department’s health emergency management bureau. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that occurred off the coast of Hinatuan in Surigao del Sur on Saturday, December 2, 10:37 pm, was caused by movements in the Philippine trench. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)