Bogo City remains in slow recovery eight months after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake, with 38 damaged public buildings requiring an estimated P963.78 million in rehabilitation needs.
On June 3, 2026, Governor Pamela Baricuatro distributed P10,000 each to 3,215 affected families in Bogo City, totaling over P32 million in provincial financial assistance.
Mayor Maria Cielo Martinez stated that rehabilitation was delayed by aftershocks and manpower shortages, forcing schools to use shifting schedules and temporary shelters ahead of the June 8 class resumption.
MORE than eight months after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck northern Cebu, Bogo City remains in recovery, with homes, schools and public buildings awaiting full rehabilitation.
For residents such as Ricardo Dela Cerna, 62, rebuilding has been slow and painful. He was among those whose homes were destroyed by the Sept. 30, 2025 quake. The damage was followed by another burden as he suffered a series of heart attacks after the disaster, making recovery more difficult for him and his family.
“Until now, our house is still damaged, but thanks to our beloved governor, I now have a budget for the repair,” he said in Cebuano.
Cash aid
On Wednesday, June 3, 2026, Dela Cerna’s family was among 3,215 families in Bogo City that received P10,000 each from the Provincial Government under the third tranche of financial assistance for earthquake-affected residents. The distribution, held at the Don Celestino Martinez Sr. Sports Complex in Barangay Taytayan, amounted to more than P32 million.
Another recipient, Juliet Salonoy, said the assistance mattered to families trying to rebuild months after the earthquake.
“No matter how big or small the support is, we are glad to take it,” Salonoy said in Cebuano.
Salonoy, 50, said some families continue to live in partly repaired homes or temporary shelters. She said thieves have targeted empty houses while residents carry out repairs.
Manpower problem
Mayor Maria Cielo “Mayel” Martinez said the City Government had hoped to move faster in its rehabilitation work but was slowed by persistent aftershocks in the months after the disaster.
Martinez said the scale of the damage requires a large workforce, and the City has hired additional engineers but continues to face difficulty because of the volume of work.
Experts, she said, had advised them to wait at least six months before starting major rebuilding work. With eight months now having passed, Martinez said she hopes reconstruction projects will move faster.
Quake impact
The earthquake struck at 9:59 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2025, with its epicenter about 19 kilometers northeast of Bogo City. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) placed its depth at five kilometers and said it was generated by the Bogo Bay Fault, a newly identified fault.
The shallow offshore quake caused strong shaking across Cebu and nearby provinces. Bogo City and the towns of San Remigio, Medellin, Tabogon, Sogod, Tabuelan and Daanbantayan were among the hardest-hit areas.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has reported 79 deaths and 559 injuries, all in Central Visayas.
In Bogo City alone, assessment results showed 38 damaged buildings, with rehabilitation needs estimated at P963.78 million, according to a January report by the Provincial Government’s Public Information Office.
Recovery program
Bogo City’s rehabilitation forms part of a broader recovery program for northern Cebu.
Last Jan. 30, the Provincial Government presented a P708.1 million three-year comprehensive rehabilitation and recovery plan during a Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council meeting at the Capitol.
Of the P708.1 million allocation, P311 million was set aside for agriculture and fisheries, P254.1 million for the repair of 13 damaged bridges and P143 million for tourism recovery. The allocation was an initial Provincial Government commitment compared with the scale of damage recorded in the post-disaster needs assessment conducted from Nov. 21 to Dec. 15, 2025.
At the time, the assessment placed damage in northern Cebu at P9.24 billion and economic losses at P47.74 billion. It estimated recovery and rehabilitation needs at P19.23 billion.
As for the financial assistance distributed in Bogo City, it is part of the Province’s ongoing recovery program for families affected by the earthquake. Families in Medellin and Daanbantayan received the same P10,000 cash assistance in previous distributions.
Provincial officials said the distribution will continue in neighboring towns.
The aid came from Province’s funds earmarked for disaster response and recovery, complementing assistance from National Government agencies and humanitarian groups.
Provincial officials said the release of assistance underwent validation and documentation from November 2025 to April 2026. The total budget allocated for northern Cebu is P473.58 million.
During the distribution Wednesday, Gov. Pamela Baricuatro assured beneficiaries that the Provincial Government will continue helping affected communities recover and rebuild.
Bogo City will also receive 1,000 packs of assorted vegetable seeds, 500 grafted calamansi seedlings, 20 rolls of screen for fish pots, 50 packs of mango fertilizer, 50 bags of hybrid yellow corn, 10 carabaos and 10 goats. The items will be turned over to the Bogo City Government.
Schools and homes
As public school classes are set to resume on Monday, June 8, the education sector remains among the hardest hit by the earthquake in Bogo City, with at least two schools classified as totally damaged and many others requiring repairs.
Martinez said schools had adopted shifting schedules, with separate morning and afternoon sessions. In damaged schools, including one in Sitio Cambado, Barangay Guadalupe, students relied on modular learning.
She said temporary learning shelters have allowed schools to conduct morning and afternoon classes.
Assessments of school buildings showed other concerns, including structures that may need to be demolished.
Martinez cited a school in Barangay La Paz where structures were reportedly affected by a fault line and may no longer be suitable for reconstruction.
With 38 schools across Bogo City, the mayor said rehabilitation will take time.
To address the classroom gap, teachers have set up temporary learning shelters with help from private organizations.
On the issue of displaced residents, Martinez said she has not received reports of families unable to return to their homes.
She said the City Government has distributed building materials to 1,000 families to support home repairs and reconstruction.
Families who had no shelter were also offered housing assistance in Barangay Banban.
“So far, no one has approached me saying they have nowhere to stay,” Martinez said in Cebuano. “The City Government has been very proactive.”
City Hall repair
The rehabilitation plan for Bogo City Hall is moving forward, with officials set to discuss a revised design and project costing.
Martinez said the first draft of the proposed improvements had been reviewed and discussed, while the revised second draft was scheduled to be presented Thursday, June 4.
The redesign takes into account recent developments, including the transfer of the Municipal Council to a newly constructed building, which changes the original floor plan.
With the SP no longer occupying space in City Hall, Martinez said the layout has been revised to reflect the updated use of the facility.
For survivors like Dela Cerna and Salonoy, the assistance does not end the hardship caused by the earthquake. But it gives families another way to continue rebuilding after months of uncertainty. / DPC, JUSTIN JOHN U. BUGTAI, CNU Intern