FOR residents in Purok Tangkong 1 and 2 in Barangay Hagnaya, San Remigio, the choice has become stark: stay in their sinking coastal community where their livelihoods are, or move to safety and risk losing their income. This dilemma captures the lingering impact of the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck northern Cebu.
The ground beneath their feet is no longer stable. Following the Sept. 30, 2025, earthquake, portions of the community have begun to sink, and visible cracks stretch for meters near homes. The tremor, which had its epicenter off the coast of Bogo City, left San Remigio with 1,451 totally damaged houses and 19,436 partially damaged ones as of Oct. 19.
This disaster in Cebu is part of a recent series of strong earthquakes that have rattled the country. In response, Defense Secretary and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chairman Gilberto Teodoro Jr. issued Memorandum 279 on Oct. 15, ordering all government agencies and local governments to "immediately intensify earthquake risk reduction measures while ensuring public service continuity," including regular drills, infrastructure inspections and retrofitting.
The clustering of tremors in Cebu, Davao Oriental, Zambales and Southern Leyte has also fueled public speculation that they might be connected. However, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) clarified this is not the case. Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol explained on Oct. 12 that the quakes occurred independently and had different geological sources, noting the Cebu quake alone has recorded more than 12,000 aftershocks.
Why residents' concerns matter
For many in Hagnaya, the order to evacuate is a devastating echo of past disasters. Many residents rely on fishing or work at the nearby port. The fear is that relocation will mean a permanent loss of income, a problem that Barangay Health Worker president Rowena Lastomin knows personally.
"Ako usa man ko sa relocation sa Yolanda, niuli gihapon ko dire kay naa man among panginabuhi," she said, recalling her displacement during super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013. (I was also part of the relocation after super typhoon Yolanda, but I returned here because our livelihood is here.)
"Mao na kay kon ma-relocate gani, ang panginabuhi na pud," she said. (That's the problem -- if we get relocated, our livelihood will be affected again.)
This sentiment is shared by residents now living in fear. "Usa ra gyud among hangyo diri nga matagaan mig kabalhinan nga balay," (Our only request is to be given a place to move to, a house) said Merry Christy Velasquez, 30, whose family has temporarily evacuated.
Jenny Bullo, 27, whose home sits beside a wide ground crack, echoed the plea. "Unta matagaan mig balay kay lain kaayo bisan asa ra mi mangatug, unya usahay makuyawan mi kay mokalit na pod og linog," Bullo said. (We hope to be given a house because it's difficult having to sleep anywhere we can, and sometimes we get scared when another quake suddenly hits.)
The local response
The San Remigio local government unit (LGU) is coordinating with national agencies but faces significant challenges.
"As per recommendation from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, we were told to evacuate residents affected by sinkholes," San Remigio Councilor Miguel Martinez said in a message on Oct. 19.
Critically, officials were advised not to fill the fault line cracks yet, "as they can still increase in size" due to aftershocks. Following expert advice, Martinez confirmed, "The LGU has also declared areas with sinkholes as no-build zones."
The housing and aid gap
The "no-build zone" declaration makes the need for relocation official, but the municipality cannot handle the crisis alone. The LGU has requested assistance from the National Government, and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development has expressed willingness to help.
However, the immediate gap is vast. "The temporary housing provided by the national government cannot accommodate all families whose homes were destroyed or affected by sinkholes and cracks. We were provided 67 smart houses in the evacuation center, which, as you may know, is not enough," Martinez said.
As a fourth-class municipality with an annual budget of around P300 million, San Remigio will require significant support from both the Provincial and National Governments to recover.
Understanding the recent quakes
Bacolcol stressed that the recent string of quakes is normal for a country on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Philippines sits on the Philippine Mobile Belt, a complex tectonic boundary. "We have around 180 active fault segments and six active trenches. It's possible for these to move in succession or simultaneously," he said.
He provided specific, separate origins for the other quakes:
Zambales: Caused by movement along the Manila Trench.
Southern Leyte & Surigao del Sur: Triggered by movements along segments of the Philippine Trench.
Davao Oriental: On Oct. 10, two strong quakes (magnitude 7.4 and 6.8) struck. Phivolcs classified this as an "earthquake doublet," where two main shocks of similar strength occur closely in time and location.
Surigao del Sur: A magnitude 6.0 quake on Oct. 11 was unrelated to the Davao events, being about 200 kilometers away.
What comes next
For the displaced residents of Hagnaya, the future remains uncertain. They are waiting for a permanent, safe relocation site that does not force them to abandon their livelihoods. Lastomin summed up the one thing they need: "Relocation area ra gyud mao ra gyud nga immediate nga tabang... kanang walay fault line ug safety sa linog." (A relocation area is really the only immediate help... somewhere without a fault line and safe from earthquakes.)
Meanwhile, the local government of San Remigio is waiting on further recommendations from MGB and Phivolcs on when it will be safe to fill the ground cracks, and on crucial housing aid from the national government. For the rest of the Philippines, the recent seismic activity serves as a sharp reminder from Phivolcs that "the country will always experience frequent earthquakes because of its geological setting," underscoring the urgency of the national preparedness measures ordered by the defense department. / CDF, DPC, PNA