The government has deployed the ‘full force’ of its resources to northern Cebu following a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck on Tuesday night.
Assistant Secretary Rafaelito Alejandro, deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), said national agencies have been directed to support local governments in Bogo City and nearby towns, which bore the brunt of the quake.
‘The full force of the national government has been mobilized to assist the affected communities,’ Alejandro said in a press briefing in Quezon City.
He added that this includes deployment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, Department of Health and other agencies for search, rescue, relief and clearing operations.
Nat’l deployments and relief operations
The Philippine Coast Guard deployed BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701), one of its largest patrol vessels, to Cebu with 36 doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel carrying emergency equipment from Manila. The ship is expected to dock in Bogo City to support hospitals and evacuation centers.
‘The Coast Guard will continue to assist in recovery efforts to ensure the safety and welfare of affected families,’ Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan, PCG commandant, said. The service also dispatched additional vessels, K9 units, and portable desalination systems to supply water in areas where systems were damaged.
The Philippine Air Force likewise mobilized assets, sending a C-130 cargo plane with rescuers from the 505th Search and Rescue Group and deploying Black Hawk helicopters for rapid assessments and relief delivery. On the ground, the 560th Air Base Group joined Army responders in conducting search, rescue, and retrieval operations.
The Philippine Army said it deployed 158 troops from the 53rd Engineer Brigade for search and rescue missions in northern Cebu and nearby provinces. Army engineers brought an ambulance and mission-essential equipment, reporting that they had rescued five people, treated five injured, and retrieved four bodies in affected areas as of Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Police Regional Office 7 said it had mobilized 1,356 personnel across Cebu province for rescue, security, and relief missions, including units from the Cebu City Police Office, Cebu Provincial Police Office, and regional mobile forces. Police also reported 27 damaged buildings and three police stations affected as of Wednesday morning.
Casualties
At least 69 people were killed and 147 others injured after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck Cebu and nearby areas late Tuesday, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Wednesday. Assistant Secretary Alejandro said most of the fatalities were recorded in Bogo City with 30 deaths, followed by San Remigio with 22, Medellin with 10, Tabogon with five, Sogod with one, and Tabuelan with one.
Of the injured, 119 were from Bogo, 14 from San Francisco, five each from Tabuelan and Catmon, and four from Daanbantayan. However, Alejandro said earlier that these numbers may still change as data from the ground is verified.
‘These numbers are still fluid,’ he said. ‘The figures may change as we continue to validate reports from the field.’
The ‘Big One’
Moreover, Alejandro said the destruction in Cebu underscored the country’s vulnerability to earthquakes and should serve as a wake-up call for other high-risk areas, particularly Metro Manila.
‘In preparing for the Big One, what I can say is we are trying our best to make the agencies concerned prepared in terms of manpower, resources, and equipment,’ Alejandro said. ‘We can never be 100 percent prepared. What we can do is practice our plan, improve it, and anticipate.’
He added that disasters like the Cebu quake also provide an opportunity to assess government readiness.
‘These events, for us, are one way of practice. Can you imagine if this happened in Metro Manila last night?’ he said. Seismologists have long cautioned that the capital region could face a catastrophic ‘Big One’ earthquake should the West Valley Fault move, potentially resulting in thousands of casualties and widespread destruction.