Sarangani Quake Survivors: Pigado Kaayo After Tragedy
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Mindanao on June 8, 2026, has left 1.67 million individuals affected and infrastructure damage estimated at P1.4 billion. In Sarangani province and General Santos City, survivors describe their situation as pigado kaayo, or extremely difficult, as farmers and fisherfolk struggle to recover their livelihoods while mourning the loss of lives.
What does pigado mean to Mindanao quake survivors?
I have walked the lands of Sarangani many times as a public servant. I know the grit of our people. But when you see a neighbor weeping over a lost child, or a fisherman staring at a blocked shoreline, you realize that being poor is hard; living through tragedy is a fight of its own. In Cebu, they say lisod or apeke to describe situations that are hard to manage. Here in Mindanao, the word is pigado. It means complicated, difficult, pushed to the edge.
When we visited Sarangani and General Santos City almost two weeks after the quake, pigado was the word on everyone's lips. It was how farmers described their inability to reach their harvests due to landslides. It was how fisherfolk talked about being restricted from the shorelines for a month. It was the sigh of families mourning the deaths of their children.
How does the Mindanao earthquake compare to the Cebu disaster?
Recovery is a slow and painful process. Much like what happened to the northern parts of Cebu, especially Bogo City, after the magnitude 6.9 quake on September 30, 2025, businesses closed down, families slept in tents outside their homes, and roads were destroyed or blocked by debris. We must acknowledge, however, that the magnitude of destruction in Mindanao is on a different level.
The numbers tell the story clearly. The final situation report for the Cebu quake on October 24, 2025, listed 750,814 affected individuals, 79 deaths, and 559 injured persons. Damage to infrastructure was pegged at P73 million.
In contrast, the government's June 30, 2026, situation report for the Mindanao quake tallied 1.67 million affected individuals, 88 deaths, 1,316 injured, and 24 missing persons. Damage to infrastructure skyrocketed to P1.4 billion.
What did we see on the ground in General Santos and Glan?
Seeing the damage up close is a heavy burden on the heart. On June 17, our team went to Sitio Datal Salvan in Barangay San Jose, General Santos City. We found around 400 residents staying at a makeshift shelter set up on a community drier. A community drier is an open, concrete ground typically used for drying crops. Under the scorching sun, these driers can be dangerously hot, making it a risky place for senior citizens and children to shelter.
Two days later, on June 19, we visited the Adelina T. Recto Elementary School in Barangay Pangyan, Glan, Sarangani. We spoke with the school principal, Gerlita Wata. She lamented how the school, which stood as a beacon of hope for the children of farmers and fisherfolk, is now rendered unusable and forever condemned due to earth movement and multiple safety hazards.
How can the nation support the rebuilding of Sarangani?
The earthquake did not just take away livelihoods; it extinguished the dreams of families who were working their way out of poverty. The affected towns and cities still have a long way to go before they can get back on their feet.
We need the government to step up and deliver. President Marcos has a duty to ensure that aid reaches the grassroots, cutting through the usual red tape and corruption that slows down relief. We need that strong, decisive action, the kind we sometimes miss from the Duterte days, to clear these roads and build proper shelters.
But we must also lean on our faith. As a people deeply rooted in Catholic values, we pray for the dead and work tirelessly for the living. You will never know where help comes from, but it is guaranteed to arrive so long as we keep telling these stories. After our fieldwork, netizens were quick to ask where they could send help. We must keep their stories alive to drive more aid to these quake-affected communities.