Nine months after typhoon Tino, displaced Cebu City families still waiting for permanent homes

NEARLY nine months after typhoon Tino tore through Cebu City, washing away homes and forcing thousands of families to flee, displaced survivors remain inside evacuation centers with no clear timeline for permanent housing. With the first anniversary of the Nov. 4, 2025 disaster approaching, families staying in Barangay Pit-os continue to live in makeshift tents while waiting for promised government assistance.

Life inside temporary shelters

Families staying at the Urbanville Open Gym and the Upper Site Open Gym in Barangay Pit-os rely on their own meager incomes while awaiting the Cebu City Government’s distribution of promised construction materials. What was intended to be short-term emergency shelter has turned into long-term living quarters.

Among those waiting is 64-year-old Leopoldo Espinosa, a pensioner who has spent roughly eight months in evacuation centers after typhoon Tino destroyed his home in Sitio Common, Barangay Bacayan. His family initially stayed at the Bacayan evacuation center before transferring to Urbanville Open Gym when school facilities had to be vacated for classes.

While grateful for the shelter, Espinosa admits that daily living conditions are difficult.

“Okay ra man diri. Maayo man ilang pag-atiman namo. Wala mi gipasagdan,” he said.

(It's okay here. They take good care of us. We were not neglected.)

Although emergency relief was provided upon their arrival, families must now support themselves. Land for relocation has been identified and each block organizes weekly bayanihan activities every Sunday to clear designated lots.

“Our Block 3 has already started cleaning and preparing the area together. Every Sunday, we help one another so that when the materials arrive, we can immediately start building,” Espinosa said.

Espinosa’s household has completed all required paperwork and awaits final approval from the Cebu City Government. Under the relief framework, each family is expected to receive construction materials worth P60,000 to build a modest home.

“We’re praying that the materials will finally be released this month so we can begin building,” he said.

Evacuation deadlines and danger zones

According to Bacayan Barangay Captain Jenelyn Leyson, 29 families remain across two evacuation centers: 18 families at the Urbanville Open Gym and 11 families at the Upper Site Open Gym. Health workers from the Bacayan Health Center continue monitoring evacuees through regular visits, medical missions and periodic food distributions.

Urgency is growing as evacuees face informal notices to vacate the gym facilities by Aug. 31, leaving many anxious about where they will go next.

“If we are asked to leave before our houses are built, we will have to look for another place again,” Espinosa said.

Returning to Sitio Common near Villa del Rio is not an option because the community was completely destroyed and designated an off-limits danger zone. The Department of Public Works and Highways is currently installing gabion structures in the area for flood mitigation.

“The place is no longer safe. We’re also traumatized. Even if we wanted to rebuild there, we don’t have the money,” Espinosa said.

Leyson emphasized that residents are strictly prohibited from rebuilding in Sitio Common. Despite warnings, four families were recently caught constructing makeshift shelters in the danger zone.

“We understand their situation because many cannot afford to rent a house. But we cannot allow people to stay in an area where their lives remain at risk,” Leyson said.

Financial burdens and administrative delays

Espinosa survives on a monthly pension, while his partner earns a small income preparing dried fish. Living alone in their tent after their two children moved out for work, the couple struggles to pay for shared facility utilities, spending P200 for water and P200 for electricity, with combined monthly utility bills reaching roughly P700.

“Our biggest problem now is our budget,” Espinosa said.

Nearby at the Upper Site Open Gym, 34-year-old habal-habal driver Reynaldo Suquib faces similar uncertainty. He has stayed at the gym for four months following an earlier stay at the Bacayan center, but unlike residents at Urbanville, many evacuees at his facility have not yet received lot assignments.

“We’re still waiting. Those who arrived ahead of us already received relocation, but we haven’t,” Suquib said. “Our place is no longer allowed to be occupied.”

“Okay ra man basta naa lang unta’y padulngan,” he added.

(It's okay as long as we have somewhere to go.)

Leyson explained that lot allocations depend on the recovery of abandoned housing units within Urbanville. The City is auditing plots previously awarded to beneficiaries who failed to occupy or maintain them before reallocating them. Although alternative sites were offered, most displaced Bacayan families preferred staying in Pit-os to remain close to their daily livelihoods.

Hopes for permanent housing

Daily life inside the open gyms is made harder by severe weather. Heavy rains frequently drive water into open sections of the facilities, forcing officials to install protective tarpaulins.

“Kung kusog kaayo ang ulan, mosulod gihapon ang tubig,” Suquib said.

(When the rain is very heavy, water still comes inside.)

Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival acknowledged that preventing families from returning to unsafe danger zones while acquiring suitable relocation land remains a primary challenge.

“This is one of our biggest challenges,” Archival said. “We’ve been trying to prevent people from rebuilding there, but there are really some who return. That’s why we’re working to acquire land so they can permanently relocate there.”

As the first anniversary of typhoon Tino approaches, displaced families like those of Espinosa and Suquib continue to wait in temporary shelters, hoping final administrative approvals and building supplies arrive before their time at the evacuation centers runs out.