NEARLY a year after the magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck northern Cebu, damaged roads and bridges are largely passable, but rehabilitation remains unfinished, with projects spread across national, provincial and local governments.
Initial assessments showed widespread damage to roads and bridges across northern Cebu.
In Daanbantayan, the Poblacion road was initially impassable. In Medellin, the Bangon Bridge was damaged but remained passable.
San Remigio sustained some of the most extensive bridge damage. The Lambusan and Looc bridges were reported totally damaged, while the Maratib Bridge was not passable. Other bridges, including Tambongon, Kinawahan, the Lambusan parallel bridge, Aningan and Avante, were restricted to one lane.
In Tabuelan, seven bridges, including those in Poblacion, Soso and Bongon and those along the Sogod-Tabuelan Road, were also limited to single-lane traffic.
The Tabunok Bridge and a bridge along the Sogod-Borbon route in Sogod were damaged, while the Salag Hanging Bridge in Tabogon was initially reported not passable.
The Cebu North Hagnaya Wharf Road also sustained damage, while the Curva-Medellin-Daanbantayan-Maya Road was partially restricted, with the Bangon and Caputatan bridges affected.
Passable does not mean repaired
Road access was restored relatively quickly after the earthquake, but passability did not mean rehabilitation was complete.
By November 2025, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 reported that rehabilitation of affected national roads and bridges had begun, with routes remaining passable despite ongoing work.
DPWH 7 identified four major roads with significant damage: the Cebu North Hagnaya Wharf Road, East Coast Road, Bogo-Curva-Medellin-Daanbantayan-Maya Road and Antoniot Pipio Highway, including the Sogod Highway.
The regional office later identified 11 national roads requiring repairs at an estimated P300.9 million, along with five bridges for reconstruction estimated at P310 million.
The five bridges included the Poblacion Daanbantayan Bridge and four bridges in San Remigio.
DPWH-7 also endorsed 12 bridges along local roads for reconstruction, with a preliminary estimate of P474 million. The bridges were in Tabogon, Daanbantayan, Medellin, Sogod and mostly Borbon.
These figures were separate from an earlier, broader estimate by DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon, who said in October 2025 that damage to roads and bridges had reached more than P2.5 billion.
Dizon said the estimate excluded structures such as schools and hospitals and could still increase as assessments continued.
The figures represent different stages and scopes of assessment and should not be added together.
Rehabilitation continues into 2026
The Cebu North Hagnaya Wharf Road provides one of the clearest examples of rehabilitation continuing into 2026.
DPWH Cebu 5th District Engineering Office project covers seven intermittent sections of the road spanning about 3.46 kilometers. It has an approved budget of P69.321 million and a 120-day delivery period.
PhilGEPS lists the project as “awarded,” with the record last updated in June 2026.
Other 2026 procurement records also show rehabilitation projects programmed along portions of the road. Some, however, remained at different procurement stages.
A September 2026 rebid covered portions around kilometer points 19.292 to 20 and 30 to 30.805, while another rebid covered a section around kilometer point 33.
These records show that projects were being pursued, but a project being programmed, bid out or awarded does not automatically mean the physical rehabilitation has been completed.
The same distinction applies to the Bogo-Curva-Medellin-Daanbantayan-Maya Road.
The route was made passable after the earthquake, while repair and reblocking continued on portions of the road. Available procurement records, however, do not establish that the entire route remained under rehabilitation.
The Sogod-Tabuelan Road was also reported passable in the initial post-earthquake assessment, although bridges and portions of the road network in the area were damaged.
Rehabilitation was programmed for portions of the road in 2026 budget records, but those entries alone do not establish that the physical work had been completed.
Provinces, cities take separate tracks
While DPWH handles national roads and bridges, the Cebu Provincial Government has been implementing a separate rehabilitation program for provincial bridges damaged by the earthquake.
By April 2026, the province reported eight bridges undergoing rehabilitation, with a combined project cost of P159.732 million.
The projects were:
Cabica Bridge, Borbon — P27.7 million
Cadaruhan Bridge, Borbon — P26.6 million
Tagnucan Bridge, Borbon — P5.5 million
Poblacion-Suba Bridge, Daanbantayan — P33.3 million
Guadalupe Bridge, Bogo City — P20 million
Tabunok Bridge, Sogod — P18 million
Piyo Bridge, Tabogon — P16.8 million
Lamintak Bridge, Medellin — P11.4 million
On May 14, the province announced four more earthquake-damaged bridge projects undergoing repairs, with a combined cost of at least P94.2 million.
These were Poblacion Borbon Bridge I, Poblacion Borbon Bridge II, Tabunan Bridges I and II in Borbon, and Calumboyan Bridge in Sogod.
The two provincial announcements therefore publicly identified 12 bridge projects.
A May 20 update, however, referred to Piyo Bridge as one of 13 bridges then undergoing repair or reconstruction. The additional project was not identified in that release.
The provincial government has also described the broader rehabilitation effort as part of P276 million in infrastructure projects approved for areas severely affected by the earthquake.
Piyo Bridge in Tabogon was among the projects with a documented 2026 status. On May 20, Gov. Pamela Baricuatro inspected its ongoing reconstruction.
The P16.8-million project was identified by the provincial government as a response to damage caused by the magnitude-6.9 earthquake.
San Remigio still faces major bridge work
San Remigio remains one of the areas where the earthquake caused significant bridge damage.
The initial assessment identified Lambusan and Looc bridges as totally damaged, while other bridges were placed under traffic restrictions.
DPWH-7 later identified four San Remigio bridges among the five bridges targeted for reconstruction under its national-road rehabilitation program.
The records reviewed for this story, however, do not establish a reliable 2026 physical completion date for those four bridges.
Local roads add another layer
Rehabilitation has also been undertaken by local governments for roads outside the national-road network.
Bogo City procurement records list projects described as “Improvement of Various Local Roads damaged by Earthquake.”
These include road reblocking along portions of the Poblacion area and drainage and sidewalk works along F. Manubag Street and Dela Viña Street.
A contract for the F. Manubag Street project was signed at P24,968,613.78, with a 204-calendar-day completion period.
Bogo's procurement records also show other earthquake-related purchases and projects, including emergency purchases for affected families and rehabilitation-related works.
The available procurement records do not establish that all of the city's earthquake-damaged road projects have been completed.
Funding remains a factor
Funding remains one of the issues affecting the broader recovery program.
In June 2026, the Regional Development Council-7 reported that DPWH-7 had proposed 148 rehabilitation projects worth P4.494 billion under the DPWH Quick Response Fund.
The projects consisted of 143 school buildings and five bridges damaged by the September 2025 earthquake.
Of the P4.494 billion requested, P856.45 million had been released, leaving P3.637 billion pending.
For the five bridges alone, DPWH had requested P310 million, of which P61.21 million had been released.
The RDC called on the DPWH Central Office to expedite the release of the remaining funds.
No single recovery timeline
Nearly a year after the earthquake, the rehabilitation picture is not a single program with one completion date.
The initial disruption to road access was addressed relatively quickly, but individual damaged sections continued to undergo repair, reblocking, procurement or reconstruction into 2026.
DPWH is handling national roads and bridges, while the Cebu Provincial Government has separately funded rehabilitation of provincial bridges. Cities and municipalities have also pursued projects involving damaged local roads and other facilities.
The records reviewed for this story show projects at different stages — from assessment and programming to bidding, contract award and physical rehabilitation.
But a budget entry, procurement notice or contract award alone does not establish that construction has been completed.
SunStar Cebu also sought an update from the DPWH Central Office on the status of the identified northern Cebu rehabilitation projects — whether they are ongoing, completed or yet to start. As of publication, the agency had not responded.
Nearly a year after the Sept. 30 earthquake, northern Cebu's roads may be passable, but the work of fully rebuilding its damaged infrastructure is still taking different routes, at different speeds.