October 10, 2025
Homes reduced to rubble, tarpaulin shelters seen at Cebu quake ocular
By Joy Rojas
On October 5, a team of volunteers from Tzu Chi Manila flew to Cebu to conduct an ocular survey and touch base with communities impacted by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that rocked the northern part of the province at 9:59 pm on September 30.
Joined by Tzu Chi Cebu volunteers, the Manila team paid courtesy calls to Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuarto, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Central Visayas Regional Director Joel Erestain, Acting Chief in Division Engineer Ver Neil Balaba, and other local leaders, who filled them in on the extensive damages caused by the quake and the immediate needs of affected residents. The following day, the team traveled to hard-hit communities in the municipalities of San Remigio (where Tzu Chi held a relief distribution for 350 families), Medellin, Borbon, Daanbantayan, Bogo, and Tagobon.
It may not have been “The Big One,” as experts from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology routinely warn us about, but the quake certainly felt like it to those who experienced its violent thrashing. As of October 5, Cebu Province recorded 209,972 families (or 372,513 individuals) affected by the quake, 26,140 families (or 5,270 individuals) displaced by the disaster, 71 confirmed fatalities, 3 missing, and 592 injured.
More than 9,000 aftershocks have been recorded since.
With its epicenter in Bogo City at just 5 kilometers below the earth’s surface, the quake was a destructive one. Videos from Cebu residents captured concrete buildings and a centuries-old church crumble before their eyes, while a bridge wiggled and swayed, toppling riders off their motorcycles. Those whose homes were left in complete disarray seconds after the quake stopped were the lucky ones. Residents with partially and totally damaged homes are forced to seek shelter in evacuation centers or in makeshift tarpaulin tents on the side of the road.
“This is the house of my father,” sobbed Gemma Carreon, daughter of former Tabogon mayor Eusebio Dungog. The two-story concrete structure looked like it had been through a wrecking ball, a mix of cement slabs and personal belongings littered on the floor. Yet when the quake hit, all Carreon could think of was saving her 92-year-old mother, bedridden from a fracture. While her mom is being looked after by relatives in another town, Carreon, 60, returned to literally pick up the pieces of a home once rife with memories, now reduced to rubble.
At the height of the quake, 69-year-old Ernesto Pepito from the Municipality of Daanbantayan recalls shouting at his hearing-challenged wife till his voice was hoarse. “Everything,” he says, when asked what he lost from the earthquake—from their refrigerator to his fishing equipment. Left with nothing but the clothes on his back, he is grateful for the rice, canned goods, and bread he received from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). But Pepito, who lives with his family for now on an empty lot across from where their house once stood, longs for a place to sleep, cook, and call home.
“Their initial and long-term need is shelter,” avers OCD regional director Erestain. “Because their homes are destroyed, they need a place to stay. So, they want to fix their homes. Some people can do that, but those whose homes stand on a fault line cannot. We have to look for relocation sites for them.”
Governor Baricuarto concurs. “A lot of people ask us, ‘How can we help?’ The DSWD is already giving food, so maybe water from tanks and trucks. And if possible, rehabilitation materials or cash so we can purchase resources for housing,” she says.
“We really need help. Please,” she stresses. “If you see the different local government units, it’s really pitiful.”
You can send your donations through a bank deposit to:
METROBANK, Del Monte Branch
Account Name: Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, Philippines
Account Number: 163-3-16307190-9
BDO
Account Name: Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, Philippines
Account Number: 011-9-7800180-0
Please send a copy of deposit slips or bank transaction confirmations via email at donations@tzuchi.org.ph or through Viber/Line/Wechat +63967 2110940
DSWD Solicitation Permit No.: DSWD-SB-PSP-S-2025-000072
Tzu Chi volunteers pay a courtesy call to Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuarto (fourth from left) on October 5.
Shelter, according to Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Central Visayas Regional Director Joel Erestain (fourth from left), is both an immediate and long-term need of Cebu quake victims who lost their homes.
In their data-gathering efforts, Tzu Chi volunteers speak to Neil Lumongsod (right) of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office.
In the Municipality of Daanbantayan, Mayor Gilbert Arrabis Jr. (second from right) provides volunteers with the latest figures of individuals affected by the 6.9 quake. According to the mayor, 32,632 families were impacted by the disaster and 13,470 homes were damaged.
Chairperson Leilani Lahoylahoy of Barangay Talisay, Daanbantayan (left), meets with Tzu Chi volunteers before a site inspection.
In Daanbantayan, local leaders fill Tzu Chi volunteers in on the latest statistics regarding damages caused by the quake.
This is what’s left of the centuries-old Archdiocesan Shrine of Santa Rosa de Lima in the Municipality of Daanbantayan after the magnitude 6.9 quake.
Sixty-nine-year-old Ernesto Pepito from Daanbantayan lost his home, and everything in it, from the quake.
Even structures made of concrete, galvanized iron, and steel are no match for the powerful earthquake.
Even structures made of concrete, galvanized iron, and steel are no match for the powerful earthquake.
Even structures made of concrete, galvanized iron, and steel are no match for the powerful earthquake.
Gemma Carreon’s home in the Municipality of Tabogon looked like it had been struck by a wrecking ball, a mix of cement slabs and personal belongings littered on the floor.
Volunteers walk through a home in the aftermath of the violent September 30 quake.
Tents made of tarpaulin serve as temporary shelter for families with totally damaged homes.
Tents made of tarpaulin serve as temporary shelter for families with totally damaged homes.
In the face of unthinkable disaster and loss, Cebuanos remain grateful for the assistance that has been pouring in from all sectors.
