Bogo City Mayor Maria Cielo “Mayel” Martinez reported that limited financial resources, rising rehabilitation costs, and a small engineering workforce continue to challenge the City's recovery from the Sept. 30, 2025 earthquake.
During a Holy Mass on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Vincent Ferrer, Fr. Benjamin Contapay urged earthquake survivors to accept events with faith and trust God despite suffering and hardship.
Residents like Jeffrey Crisostomo Baquilta and Junrey Agbones visited cemetery tombs to remember loved ones lost during the magnitude 6.9 earthquake on its one-year anniversary.
Bogo City has made significant progress in its recovery from the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck northern Cebu a year ago, but limited resources, manpower and rising rehabilitation costs continue to challenge the City’s efforts to fully restore affected infrastructure and services.
Bogo City Mayor Maria Cielo “Mayel” Martinez said the City Government was doing the best it could with its available resources, particularly as a fourth-class city with limited financial capacity and a small engineering workforce.
“Our resources in terms of finances are also very limited. So, we’re just doing the best we can with what we have,” Martinez said.
Ongoing challenges
The mayor said the City had to adjust its rehabilitation plans as the cost of fuel and construction materials increased after the earthquake. She added that the recovery effort became more difficult because the disaster was followed by continued aftershocks, hindering residents from immediately returning to their normal routines.
“It was really very hard for us to encourage people to go back to their daily lives,” she said.
A year later, however, Martinez noted that the City and its residents are gradually moving forward. She explained that while Bogo’s disaster risk reduction and management personnel were prepared based on existing protocols and training, the actual earthquake exposed the limitations of standard preparedness exercises.
“You can never be too prepared for something,” Martinez said.
Managing expectations
The tremor was the first time many residents and responders experienced an event of such magnitude. While the disaster response team was prepared in principle, the mayor emphasized that nothing could fully ready people for the reality of a major earthquake.
Martinez thanked Bogo residents for their patience as the local government continues its recovery efforts, recognizing their initiative to rebuild their lives and return to normalcy. She acknowledged, however, that the City could not address all concerns simultaneously.
“I just ask that we understand one another, that we unite and that we remain forward-looking,” Martinez said, urging residents to keep hope alive.
While Bogo has made notable progress in rehabilitation, Martinez cited the City’s limited manpower, particularly in its engineering department, as a major constraint in implementing infrastructure projects. Despite these hurdles, she affirmed that the City continues working toward restoring normal conditions.
Displacement and faith
She expressed gratitude for the continued support and resources that helped the local government move forward. Asked about displaced families, Martinez said there are no longer households reported to the City as remaining displaced specifically because of earthquake-related damage, though families might experience displacement for reasons unrelated to the disaster.
Emphasizing the continuous need for additional resources to sustain recovery work, she described the rehabilitation as a work in progress.
“Life goes on,” Martinez said, pointing to the resilient attitude she has observed among Bogo residents despite the lingering challenges.
During a Holy Mass at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Vincent Ferrer on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, Fr. Benjamin Contapay likened the experience of earthquake survivors to the biblical story of Job, who lost his family, possessions and livelihood, but continued to trust in God. He reminded the faithful not to automatically regard suffering as divine retribution.
“We should not say that this is a punishment,” Contapay said.
Remembering the victims
The priest urged residents to accept events with faith, praising the solidarity that emerged when communities came together to help those affected.
“What is important is that we survived because we have faith,” Contapay said.
Citing St. Augustine, he explained that people may not always understand why certain events happen because God has a broader perspective. He encouraged the faithful to give their full commitment to Christ, reminding them to trust God even amid suffering, poverty and hardship.
“Give your 100 percent,” Contapay said, stressing that faith should not be partial.
For Jeffrey Crisostomo Baquilta, a resident of Barangay Polambato, the tragedy remains fresh as he visited the tombs of his wife and two children who died in the Sept. 30, 2025 tremor. Now living with his only surviving son, Baquilta returned to the cemetery to remember the life they shared, admitting he has yet to fully move on from the loss.
Similarly, Junrey Agbones visited the tomb of his daughter, Mia Lepiten Agbones, on Wednesday, which marked the one-year anniversary of the tragedy. He shared how deeply he misses their simple moments together, especially taking Mia to school, picking her up and creating videos for social media.
Since her death, Agbones frequently visits her grave to grieve while keeping her memory alive by returning to places they frequented, like the beach. He believes that while the pain of losing his daughter remains, Mia is still with him through the memories they shared. / CAV