ALABEL, Sarangani – When the magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Southern Mindanao, 63-year-old Fe Rotante was attending to a customer at a public market in Poblacion of Malapatan, where she has sold vegetables for years. 

The ground suddenly shook.

“Pirte nakong hadluka. Nagkamang-kamang jud mi didto sa kalsada (I was terrified. We had to crawl our way along the road.),” Rotante recalled.

Fearful that a tsunami would strike, Rotante rushed home in Barangay Pananggalon, a coastal village in Malapatan located about five kilometers from the town center. 

Like hundreds of other residents in coastal communities, Rotante spent hours anxiously waiting for updates while aftershocks as strong as magnitude 6.0 continued to shake the town. 

But for Rotante, surviving the earthquake was only the beginning. 

As damaged infrastructure and power interruptions disrupted water systems in Sarangani, residents found themselves lining up for water deliveries, relying on donations, or searching for alternative sources to meet their daily needs. 

Two days after the quake, a supply of potable water delivered through a volunteer-led relief effort organized by the Sangguniang Kabataan of Poblacion, Alabel became the first safe drinking water her family had access to in more than 12 hours, she said. Alabel town is nearly 40 kilometers from her village. 

Queenie Anne Pag-elion, a purok kagawad (village councilor), said that at least five houses in their purok (village) were totally destroyed by the earthquake, including Rotante’s home.

“After what we went through during the earthquake, we’re still scared of the aftershocks. That’s why many chose to sleep outside on basketball courts and open fields,” Pag-elion said in a mix of English and Cebuano. 

As of Tuesday, June 9, Malapatan had recorded 10 deaths, 1,936 partially damaged households, and 634 totally damaged households. At least 158 families were staying in evacuation centers, according to the local government data. 

The prolonged power outage also crippled water refilling stations in Malapatan. Even after power was restored around noon on Tuesday, June 9, supplies were depleted within hours. 

“Mostly sa amua diri kay sa poso na gainom,” said Pag-elion. (Because of that, most of us here ended up drinking from hand pumps.)

The local government of Malapatan continues to appeal for assistance as it works to provide affected communities with potable and daily-use water, food packs, and temporary shelter materials. 

But even as aid organizations and local officials mobilized resources, getting assistance into the most affected communities proved difficult. 

Access denied

Aid groups operating in the worst-hit areas of Malapatan and Glan said there was an urgent need for shelter, food, and especially water. However, they said damaged roads and bridges continue to hamper relief operations and delay the delivery of assistance to isolated areas. 

Rodrigo Sosmeña, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said on Tuesday, June 9, that Glan remains the worst-affected municipality in Sarangani. As of writing, the town has recorded 17 deaths, the highest reported fatality count in the province. 

The damaged transport network has forced authorities and humanitarian groups to find alternative routes to deliver aid. 

On Tuesday night, June 9, the first wave of relief packages from the Sarangani provincial government was transported by sea from GenSan Fish Port Complex to Glan. Authorities said the route was the safest option for reaching the municipality, which remains largely inaccessible by land. 

For residents who live in far-flung areas, assistance has been even harder to access. 

In Barangay Big Margus Glan, a remote village about 40 kilometers from the town center, the first round of relief distribution from the local government had yet to reach residents as of Wednesday, June 10, according to resident Charlie de Arce. 

Faced with delay, community members organized their own donation drive to support families in the most isolated parts of the barangay. But De Arce said that the initiative faces challenges of its own, noting that supplies are limited as stores in Glan have already begun running low on essential goods. 

Across Sarangani, similar problems persist. 

For Rotante, every delivery of drinking water offers only temporary relief. Days after the earthquake, she remains uncertain where her family’s next supply of clean water will come from as they continue to wait for updates on the restoration of water services. 

As roads remain damaged and aid struggles to reach isolated communities, residents like Rotante continue to wait for the next shipment of supplies from the local government and volunteer groups.

The entire province is now under a state of calamity, as declared by Sarangani Governor Rogelio Pacquiao today, June 10, with response efforts focused on the hardest-hit municipalities of Malapatan and Glan. – Rappler.com

Rey Mark Paran is a senior statistics student at the University of the Philippines Visayas. An alumnus of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2025, he is also the managing editor of Pagbutlak.