Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Former House Speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, resigned Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co and Senator Mark Villar are set to be subpoenaed by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to attend its investigation on the flood control anomalies.

ICI executive director Brian Keith Hosaka said this in an ambush interview on Wednesday.

According to Hosaka, the ICI will invite Villar since he is a former secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Meanwhile, Hosaka said the ICI already has the subpoena for Romualdez during the first part of the commission’s hearings earlier in September.

‘In fact, I think, according to our secretariat, he was invited already, but I just have to find out if the summons or the subpoena was actually received,’ Hosaka said.

The ICI is currently investigating the alleged anomalies on flood control projects.

How big is one billion pesos? Most Filipinos will never see that much in their lifetimes – yet in the flood control scandal, ?1 billion in cash-filled suitcases was allegedly delivered to a single official. And it gets worse: investigators have frozen ?180 billion linked to key players in the scheme.

Among the most explosive testimonies came from former engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), who said ?1 billion in hard cash – not bank transfers – was delivered straight to Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co’s penthouse suite at the Shangri-La at the Fort in Taguig.

Then the scale got even bigger. An online report citing Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) data found that ?180 billion had flowed through 427 bank accounts linked to four contractor firms owned by flood-control ‘king and queen’ Curlee and Sarah Discaya – amounts that far surpass the suitcase deliveries linked to Co.

These figures aren’t just numbers on paper or footnotes in Senate hearings. They represent staggering volumes of taxpayer money – allegedly pocketed through ghost projects, bid-rigging, and systemic corruption – that could have funded public services, filled classrooms, and supported millions of Filipino families.

So just how much money is that?

One billion in hard cash: What does it look like? Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a former special adviser to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, demonstrated the dimensions of ?1 billion in stacked ?1,000 bills. It forms a block 5 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 4 feet high – almost the size of a small SUV.

But stacked vertically, the numbers become even more staggering. If one assumes a thickness of 0.10 to 0.12 mm per ?1,000 bill (an estimate consistent with many banknotes globally), then:

?1,000 bills stacked to reach ?1 billion (an estimated 1,000,000 bills) would measure approximately 100 to 120 meters in height.

That would be taller than the Statue of Liberty (around 93 meters including base), roughly equivalent to a 30-to-40-story building, and many times the height of the Rizal Monument (at 12.7 meters).

If ?1 billion were packed into suitcases as whistleblowers described, it would require 20 suitcases (each worth ?50 million). Multiply that by 35 billion – the alleged budget insertions attributed to Co over four years – and you’d be looking at 700 suitcases forming a trail longer than half a football field.

How does it compare to Filipino families’ needs?

According to IBON Foundation, a family of five in Metro Manila needs about ?1,220 a day, or roughly ?26,545 a month, to meet basic needs and live decently. By contrast, the newly approved minimum wage in the NCR stands at ?695 a day – a figure that still falls short of the actual cost of living, especially in the capital region.

In this context, ?1 billion is no longer just a large number – it becomes an almost unimaginable fortune.

If one household were to spend exactly ?1,220 a day, ?1 billion would last them over 2,200 years. Even at a significantly higher daily expense – say, ?50,000 a day – it would still take more than 54 years before that sum runs out. Now consider the perspective of a minimum wage earner bringing home ?695 a day. Assuming they work 261 days a year (standard for those not paid on weekends), it would take over 5,500 years to earn ?1 billion – and that’s only if every single peso was saved, with zero spending on food, rent, transport, or basic needs.

Even under a more generous estimate of 313 working days a year, it would still take around 4,600 years to reach ?1 billion.

In other words, the amount of public money allegedly lost in just one transaction could have sustained generations of Filipino families, or represented the entire working lifetime of thousands of minimum wage earners.

The Discaya contractors’ frozen accounts

But the AMLC findings dwarf the numbers above. According to multiple reports, roughly ?180 billion flowed through 427 accounts of four Discaya-linked contractors – St. Gerrard, St. Timothy, Alpha and Omega, and St. Matthew – between 2016 and 2025.

What does ?180 billion look like? It’s an almost unimaginable sum – 180 times ?1 billion. If stacked in ?1,000 bills, and assuming each note is approximately 0.10 to 0.12 millimeters thick, the pile would reach 18 to 21.6 kilometers high – more than twice the height of Mount Everest, towering far above the cruising altitude of commercial airplanes.

At IBON Foundation’s NCR family living wage of ?1,220 per day (?26,545 per month), ?180 billion could support over 678,000 families for an entire year.

And if you tried to spend it?

At a rate of ?1 million per day, it would take nearly 500 years (493 years) to run out. Even spending ?50,000 per day, it would last close to 10,000 years – 9,863 years, to be exact.

How long to earn these billions?

The so-called flood-control ‘king and queen,’ Curlee and Sarah Discaya, allegedly amassed ?180 billion through their four contractor firms in just nine years, and a government official was reportedly delivered ?1 billion in a single day – in cash. In contrast, most ordinary Filipinos would need multiple lifetimes to even approach such a figure.

A worker earning ?300/day would need 10,653 to 12,780 years to earn just ?1 billion, and an unfathomable 1.9 to 2.3 million years to reach ?180 billion.

On the NCR minimum wage of ?695/day, it would still take about 4,599 to 5,509 years to make ?1 billion, or around 827,874 to 991,683 years for ?180 billion.

Even someone earning ?1,000/day, far above minimum wage, would require 3,194 to 3,831 years to earn ?1 billion, and 574,943 to 689,580 years to hit ?180 billion.

This also translates to at least 5,500 minimum wage earners (earning ?695 per day and working every weekday) an entire year just to collectively earn ?1 billion – assuming they spend nothing on food, rent, or transport. To reach ?108 billion in the same period, it would take 595,000 workers under the same wage and working conditions. Yet whistleblower testimonies and bank records suggest these billions were being funneled in a matter of days, weeks, or a few deliveries – not decades. What regular workers would never achieve in a dozen lifetimes was, allegedly, carted away in suitcases and routed through hundreds of bank accounts in under a decade.

What billions could have done for farmers

Citing flood control allocations in the 2023 to 2025 General Appropriations Acts (GAAs) and a Senate study showing only 40 percent fund utilization, IBON Foundation warned that up to ?197 billion may be lost annually to corruption in flood control projects – money that could have gone to support Filipino farmers instead.

According to IBON’s analysis, that amount could have empowered the National Food Authority (NFA) to purchase up to 6.27 million metric tons of palay, equivalent to one-third (33 percent) of the country’s current annual palay production of 19 million metric tons – enough to exert significant influence on domestic market prices.

The group also pointed out that ?197 billion could have funded the construction of much-needed drying facilities to help farmers earn ?24 per kilo for clean, dry palay, including:

84,022 small-scale dryers (two per barangay at ?250,000 each)

42,011 large-scale dryers (one per barangay at ?550,000 each)

P700 billion lost to corruption

Amid the staggering billions now under scrutiny in the flood control corruption scandal, an earlier warning from a top anti-graft official has resurfaced. Back in 2019, then Deputy Ombudsman Cyril Ramos estimated that the Philippines loses around ?700 billion every year to corruption.

That amount, Ramos said, could have built 1.4 million housing units for the poor, funded medical assistance for 7 million Filipinos, or secured a rice buffer stock that would last more than a year. ‘With that amount,’ he added at the time, ‘no Filipino would get hungry.’ In 2024, the Philippines spent a total of ?1.56 trillion on health, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). That means ?700 billion, the amount said to be lost to corruption each year, accounts for nearly 45 percent of the country’s total health expenditure.

For far-flung and underserved communities where access to health services remains limited, that sum could transform the public health landscape – building rural health units, hiring medical personnel, and subsidizing care for millions.

To put it another way: Based on PSA data showing that the average Filipino spent ?12,751 on health care in 2024, a ?700-billion fund could have fully covered an entire year’s worth of medical needs for nearly 55 million Filipinos – almost half the country’s population.

The true cost of corruption

There is no image big enough to capture what corruption has stolen.

In the wake of the flood control scandal – with figures like ?1 billion stuffed into suitcases and ?180 billion frozen across hundreds of accounts – the numbers have become too massive to comprehend.

But as Inquirer editor Tony Bergonia once pointed out during a previous wave of corruption scandals, ‘To count from one to one billion, it’s estimated you would need 30 to 100 years.’

That’s longer than most people will live – and far longer than the prison time often served, if any, by those who plunder the public coffers.

But the true weight of these stolen billions isn’t just measured in stacks of money. It’s measured in lives.

‘Corruption is paid by the poor,’ Pope Francis once warned – and Bergonia echoed that truth: ‘The capacity of the poor to bear the burden of corruption is not as infinitesimal as the amounts of public money being misused or outright stolen by officials.’

‘In time, people bled dry of their wherewithal to make ends meet will be drawn to do either of two things – just die in place or rise to their feet, clinging to a knife.’

Here in the Philippines, it’s no longer just about missing funds. It’s the absence of rural health centers. The substandard school buildings. The flooded barangays. The children who dropped out because floodwaters reached the chalkboard, but help never came.

When even ?1 billion looks like a tower of money you could live inside – what does that say about the men and women accused of siphoning off tens or hundreds of billions more?

One word: Unimaginable.

Because corruption at this scale is no longer about money. It is about stolen futures.

Environmental watchdog EcoWaste Coalition has called for a stop to the sale of lipstick products reportedly contaminated with lead and their removal from the market, in time for the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week this October.

EcoWaste made the call on Wednesday as the nation marks the Consumer Welfare Month, while the lead poisoning prevention week will occur from October 19 to 25.

The group’s statement also followed the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) issuance of six advisories warning the public against the purchase and use of imported Qianxiu lipsticks that are illegally being sold without the required authorization.

Among the Qianxiu Lipstciks flagged by the FDA are Hello Kitty #07 (pink canister), #06 (black canister), #03 (black canister), #11 (pink canister), #10 (pink canister) and #02 (black canister) through Advisory Numbers No. 2025-0927, 2025-0928, 2025-0929, 2025-0946, 2025-0947 and 2025-0948.

‘Sold for P35 each or three for P100, the Qianxiu lipsticks were found laden with up to 43,640 parts per million (ppm) of lead, way above the 20 ppm limit for lead as a heavy metal contaminant under the Asean Cosmetic Directive (ACD),’ EcoWaste said in a statement on Wednesday.

‘We urge consumers not to use Qianxiu and other unauthorized lipsticks from dubious sources and with unknown composition as they may contain banned ingredients like lead, which is a well-documented neurological and reproductive toxicant. We further urge government regulators to have these toxic lipsticks removed from the market,’ said EcoWaste National Coordinator Aileen Lucero.

Based on the X-Ray fluorescence screening it conducted, the group found that Qianxiu #02, #03, and #06 (black canisters) contained 17,690 ppm, 43,640 ppm, and 31,520 ppm of lead, respectively. Moreover, Qianxiu #07, #10, and #11 (pink canisters) contained 13,610 ppm, 27,390 ppm, and 9,640 ppm of lead, respectively.

The group revealed that Qianxiu lipsticks were among the products it reported to the agency last March for containing ‘high levels of lead.’

EcoWaste added that Qianxiu lipstick has no certificate notification, which means that the products under this brand are being sold without the necessary quality and safety assessment by the FDA.

The group noted that this violates the Republic Act No. 9711 or the FDA Act of 2009.

‘The science indicates there is no safe level of lead exposure. Lead is a neurotoxicant and can be dangerous even at small doses. Medical experts are clear that any level of lead exposure is unhealthy,’ EcoWaste said, quoting a report from the US-based advocacy group.

It warned that lead is a known endocrine-disrupting chemical and can cause hormonal changes among women, menstrual irregularities, reduced fertility, and a host of other health problems that may also affect unborn babies.

The provincial government of South Cotabato is sending rescue and medical responders and relief goods for victims of the deadly 6.9 magnitude earthquake that jolted Cebu province Tuesday evening.

South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo ordered the deployment of rescue and medical teams, as well as relief assistance, as part of the province’s solidarity and humanitarian response to the tragedy.

‘Early in the morning, relief goods and hygiene kits from the people of South Cotabato will be heading to Cebu,’ Tamayo said in a statement.

He said the relief assistance, as well as rescue and medical teams from the province, will be under the disposal of Cebu Gov. Pam Baricuatro or her designated incident command center, as they are familiar with the situation on the ground.

Rolly Doane Aquino, head of the South Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), said they immediately prepared the relief goods that will be transported to Cebu, hopefully within the day.

He said the rescue and medical teams would be sent to the quake-struck province through a commercial plane.

Aquino said his office is coordinating with the Cebu provincial government and their PDRRMO counterparts on where to deploy the responders and relief assistance from South Cotabato.

The magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Cebu on Tuesday night killed at least 22 people, damaged heritage churches and other structures, and knocked out power in parts of the central Philippines, the Inquirer reported.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) initially measured the quake at magnitude 6.7 before upgrading it to 6.9. It occurred at 9:59 p.m., with the epicenter located 21 kilometers northeast of Bogo City, Cebu, at a shallow depth of 5 kilometers. The U.S. Geological Survey initially recorded a magnitude 7.0 before revising it downward, it added.

Authorities warned of more fatalities due to significant damage suffered in northern Cebu due to the shallow depth of the quake

The Department of Health (DOH) has deployed medical teams to Bogo City in Cebu, following a call for medical volunteers by the province after a strong earthquake struck the city on Tuesday night.

In a Facebook post, the DOH said that Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa sent medical teams last night for emergency response in Bogo City.

‘Doctors, nurses and staff of the DOH Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) and the DOH Cebu South Medical Center (CSMC) have reported back on their safety and are now deploying medical teams to nearby areas, especially in Bogo City itself,’ DOH Spokesperson Dr. Albert Domingo said in a separate statement.

Domingo also said that DOH centers for health development in Central and Eastern Visayas are coordinating with the regional counterparts of the Office of Civil Defense.

‘The DOH advises all in affected areas to heed all instructions and advice from their local government units and to brace for possible aftershocks,’ Domingo added.

In a separate post, the provincial government of Cebu said that the province needs medical volunteers ‘to augment manpower, especially in the north.’ Interested volunteers may contact 0915-330-3293.

The provincial government also said that the following medical teams are now in Bogo City:

Sotto Trauma Team led by Dr. Aquino

Provincial Health Office led by Dr. Arsenal

Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation led by Dr. Don Rosello

The following teams are expected to arrive in a few hours:

Argao District Hospital

Barili District Hospital

Ricardo L. Maningo Memorial Hospital (Camotes)

‘The neighboring province of Bohol will also send medical staff to support Cebu’s operations. Meanwhile, South Cotabato governor has confirmed to Governor Pamela S. Baricuatro that relief goods, hygiene kits, and a medical team are already on their way from General Santos City to Cebu,’ the province said.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology initially measured the earthquake’s magnitude at 6.7 before upgrading it to 6.9. The earthquake occurred at 9:59 p.m. (Sept. 30) with its epicenter located 21 kilometers northeast of Bogo City in Cebu.

In an interview with ANC, the Cebu Provincial Information Office on Wednesday reported 27 fatalities and 37 injuries, with figures expected to rise as rescue operations are currently ongoing

Large sections of this city were plunged into darkness Tuesday night after a strong earthquake struck near Bogo City, Cebu, prompting unscheduled power interruptions across several districts.

In an advisory, distribution utility MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) said power went out at 10:01 p.m. on September 30, affecting the entire Molo Substation, Megaworld Feeder 6, and La Paz Feeders 1 and 3. Restoration work is ongoing as crews trace the cause of the outages as of 11:09 p.m.

The company apologized for the inconvenience and urged residents to remain safe as it works to restore electricity ‘as soon as possible.’

The blackout followed a magnitude 6.7 earthquake that jolted Cebu at 9:59 p.m., with its epicenter traced 17 kilometers northeast of Bogo City at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

Phivolcs reported instrumental intensity VI in Cebu City and Villaba, Leyte; intensity III in San Fernando, Cebu; and intensity II in Laoang, Northern Samar. The tremor was also felt in parts of Iloilo.

As of press time, no major damage or casualties have been reported, though local governments in affected areas are conducting inspections.

Authorities reminded residents to brace for possible aftershocks

The Sandiganbayan has moved to November 7 the arraignment and pre-trial of former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and others after granting the prosecution’s urgent motion to amend the information related to the 2019 takeover of the Malampaya gas project.

During Wednesday’s hearing, the anti-graft court’s Third Division gave the prosecution, under the Office of the Ombudsman, 30 days to submit the amended information.

Before granting the motion, the Sandiganbayan also declared moot the respondents’ motion seeking to invalidate the charges against Cusi and the other accused.

The charges against Cusi and others involve their alleged roles in railroading the sale of 45 percent of shares of the Malampaya gas project to a company owned by Davao businessman Dennis Uy.

The anti-graft court explained that the respondents’ motion to quash was anchored on the information dated November 24 of last year.

It added that resolving the motion to quash at this stage would be premature, because the prosecution has the right to file a motion to amend the information-a point that the defense later conceded.

Asked why it took a year to file the motion, the prosecution panel said the case was only assigned to them last month.

While the motion had already been drafted on September 23, it was formally filed only on Tuesday, as the panel needed to subpoena several documents to prepare a memorandum supporting the motion to amend the information.

Before the deferment of their arraignment, Cusi and 10 other former and present Department of Energy officials posted bail of P90,000 each for their graft charges on September 10.

Last August, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) confirmed that its vice chairperson, Cusi, had been indicted by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the Malampaya project.

PDP Deputy Spokesperson Ferdinand Topacio earlier said one count of graft had been filed against Cusi and several others before the Sandiganbayan.

The Ombudsman’s probe involving Department of Energy (DOE) officials began in 2022, following a Senate committee on energy report on the sale of shares in the Malampaya project.

According to the report, the DOE allegedly railroaded the approval of the $545-million sale of a 45-percent stake in Malampaya to UC Malampaya, despite the buyer’s failure to pass the financial capability test and to submit audited financial statements.

While the Ombudsman initially dismissed the graft complaint in 2022 for lack of evidence, it reversed its decision in 2024 and found probable cause to indict Cusi and several DOE officials.

Cusi was also recently affirmed by the Supreme Court as the legitimate president of PDP-Laban, the political party of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

State universities and colleges (SUCs) are critical pillars of higher education, human capital development, and technological innovation in the Philippines. As SUCs expand access to higher education, they act as equalizers that can level the playing field for the underprivileged. These institutions are essential in addressing educational disparities, promoting inclusive growth, and advancing research that contributes to national development. They serve as hubs for talent cultivation and skills training, supporting the development of a knowledge-based economy.

Today, the Philippines has 113 SUCs operating nationwide. SUCs face common challenges such as financial constraints, regulatory barriers, and sub-optimal use of funds, which undermine long-term sustainability. A persistent issue is the lack of funding for capital outlays, leading to aging buildings, outdated and inadequate facilities, and the discontinuation or non-implementation of development plans despite a growing student population. Additionally, SUCs struggle to recruit specialized personnel like psychometricians and guidance counselors due to uncompetitive salaries, forcing them to rely on temporary staff. Retention of academic staff is also problematic when there is insufficient support for human resource development.

SUCs mainly depend on government subsidies for funding. They also generate income from tuition, auxiliary services, and income-generating projects (IGPs). Under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, the government now covers the tuition fees of undergraduate students. While research grants are sought, procedural barriers often hinder SUCs, especially lesser-known universities, from securing funding. SUCs face challenges like uneven budget distribution, limited financial independence, and multiple layers of bureaucracy that slow down effective use of funds. Many struggle to maximize revenue from IGPs and turn research outputs into profitable intellectual properties (IPs) because they lack entrepreneurial skills and necessary facilities.

To address these issues, it is essential to pursue strategic reforms in SUCs’ financing. International experience provides insights into how Philippine SUCs can become more financially sustainable. For example, Singapore funds its universities through block grants with a three-year budget cycle and strong endowment funds.

Singapore’s National Research Foundation Central Gap Fund actively promotes the commercialization of research outputs. Meanwhile, Thailand adopts a decentralized approach that grants autonomy to universities via block grants, allowing for more flexible fiscal management. This strategy has resulted in higher research budgets and increased operational efficiency.

Locally, the establishment of knowledge, innovation, science, and technology parks in SUCs, through the support of the Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, can further unlock the optimal utilization of land grants and foster industry partnerships. The UP-Ayala Land TechnoHub serves as a pioneer in this type of university-industry collaboration. This partnership fosters technology commercialization, business incubation, and job creation. Although there are debates surrounding this approach, such as the prioritization of IT services versus a more research-intensive focus, similar partnerships can facilitate a more optimal utilization of SUCs’ assets.

Other good practices include continuous investment in faculty and staff capacity building, especially for research, and emphasizing digitization for increased administrative efficiency.

The government should continue pursuing the creation of more fiscal space, allowing for more investments in higher education. Furthermore, strengthening university-industry partnerships and facilitating the commercialization of IPs and innovations can substantially improve SUCs’ funding and support the country’s development agenda.

Down the line, performance-based funding linked to clear and transparent key performance indicators can further enhance efficiency. A more ambitious reform for the Philippines is to grant greater financial independence to SUCs through block grants and multi-year budgets for internally generated income, giving them flexibility in resource allocation.

An effective tuition fee structure can support these block grants, which should be based on the standard cost of education delivery, a quality premium, and the capacity limits of SUCs.

To effectively serve as catalysts of social and economic progress, the financial sustainability of SUCs must be achieved through strategic reforms that free them from financial constraints imposed by conservative and rigid structures.

Senator Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday accused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of favoring and accepting bribes from multinational pharmaceutical companies, resulting in the continued sale of unregistered products and shutdown of smaller pharmaceutical firms. Tulfo made the pronouncement during a Senate panel hearing on the proposed budget of the Department of Health for 2026.

During the hearing, Tulfo questioned why despite continuously releasing advisories and warnings on harmful medical products, the FDA does not seem to actually enforce it.

FDA Director General Paolo Teston, for his part, said that the advisories already include an order for law enforcement agencies to prevent such products’ sale, adding that the FDA does not have enough capacity to do it by itself as it only has 890 plantilla and 300 contract of service personnel.

But Tulfo pointed out that even just one or two researchers can check if their advisories are being enforced.

‘I only have four plantilla researchers, and yet we were able to investigate this,’ said Tulfo speaking in Filipino, adding that they found one of the banned products in online shopping apps and even mainstream pharmacies.

‘Don’t use that excuse on me about having 800 personnel . that’s already more than enough. If there’s a will, there’s a way; if there’s none, there will always be excuses,’ he added in a mix of Filipino and English.

Teston then responded that the agency is already coordinating with pharmacies and online shopping platforms to curb the illicit sale, but Tulfo interjected, insisting that the real reason it persists is due to the bribes the FDA allegedly receives from manufacturers and suppliers.

‘One of the most corrupt agencies in the Philippines is the FDA, and many pharmaceutical companies can attest to that,’ said Tulfo in Filipino.

‘So many small pharmaceutical companies are being forced to close because you favor these multinational firms,’ he added.

Tulfo then went on to cite a case he previously encountered where a smaller pharmaceutical firm introduced a mosquito spray that rivaled a popular brand.

The senator alleged that the FDA deliberately withheld the smaller firm’s license renewal over the flimsiest grounds-such as a typographical error in the address-to protect the larger competitor.

‘You withheld the license, you withheld the renewal because you were bribed,’ said Tulfo.

Tulfo then pressed the FDA chief on what concrete actions he will take to stop the continued online sale of banned products, warning that if the FDA continues to be ineffective, he would challenge Teston to step down.

At least 69 individuals reportedly died following a strong earthquake that jolted Cebu Tuesday evening, as authorities intensified its search and rescue efforts in the crucial first 24 hours when survivors trapped in the rubble could still be saved.

The quake damaged several heritage churches, residential houses and schools, while causing widespread power outages in the region.

Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Assistant Secretary Rafael Alejandro IV said most of the fatalities were in Bogo City-the epicenter of the quake-at 30, followed by 22 in San Remigio town; 10 in Medellin town; five in Tabogon town; and one each in municipalities of Sogod and Tabuelan.

‘That’s the number that we have as reported to us as of noon time (which is again for validation and verification),’ Alejandro said of the 69 death toll in a message to Inquirer.

At least 147 individuals were injured after the earthquake, Alejandro said, most of whom are in Bogo City at 119, followed by San Francisco town with 14, Tabuelan and Catmon with five each; and four in Daanbantayan.

The high number of casualties is due to the fact that the earthquake happened at night, according to the official.

‘In the morning, we are all alert, but at night when everyone is asleep. It takes time for us to react,’ he earlier said in a press conference in Quezon City.

The magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred at 9:59 p.m., with the epicenter located 21 kilometers northeast of Bogo City with a shallow depth of five kilometers, according to Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

‘Golden hour’

With the earthquake occurring less than a day ago as of posting time, Alejandro said the rescuers are scrambling during this ‘golden hour,’ referring to the first 24 hours when likelihood of survivors remains high.

‘We’re still in the golden hour when we can still save more lives,’ he said, noting that many residents are still reportedly trapped by fallen debris.

The OCD has yet to release the data on missing individuals, and Alejandro said the total number of rescued individuals will be released ‘within the day.’

Military personnel on board two transport aircraft C-130 and coast guard personnel aboard two of its ships are now on their way to ground zero to augment the search and rescue efforts.

Alejandro also said the OCD alerted neighboring Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia in case the country needs assistance.

But so far, he said local authorities can still manage the rescue operations.

Meanwhile, the entire province of Cebu has been placed under a state of calamity, allowing the provincial government to use quick response funds and also to conduct a 60-day price freeze of basic goods.

‘The Big One’

Alejandro said lessons in this earthquake should be applied when ‘The Big One’ hits the capital region.

‘We can never be 100 percent prepared . just really anticipate,’ Alejandro said, saying continuous public awareness and preparation are in place for The Big One.

‘Events like this [earthquake], for us also, is one way of practice. Can you imagine if it happens in Metro Manila at night?’ the official said.

In preparation of this grim event, government schools and offices have been participating in OCD-led earthquake drills in the capital region once every quarter of a year.

The Big One – or a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hitting Metro Manila – would lead to at least 52,000 deaths, and 500,000 injuries, according to the study of risk assessment and consultancy firm PSA Philippines Consultancy Inc. published in 2019.

Sitting on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ where tectonic plates often collide, the Philippines experiences frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.