FOR Jodelyn Quiazon, seven months pregnant with her fourth child, sleep offered little rest. The cold, hard floor of the open-air basketball court in Barangay Tindog had become her family’s bedroom. They were not alone.
Nearly 20 children, some as young as one, and two elderly residents huddled nearby. By day, their homes in a small compound stood quiet; by night, fear drove them to the relative safety of the court. They were among the countless residents of Medellin in northern Cebu, who had sought refuge along roadsides and in open fields since a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rattled their lives on Tuesday night, Sept. 30.
Many residents were too afraid to go back to their homes, confirmed Mayor Edwin Salimbangon, noting that even the town’s evacuation centers had been rendered unsafe by cracks.
A community on edge
The fear was palpable. A series of strong aftershocks had kept the community on edge, choosing makeshift tents over the familiar comfort of their own beds. While relief in the form of food packs, water, and power generators had begun to arrive, the scars were deep. The quake claimed 12 lives in Medellin and left more than 70 injured.
As local officials assessed the damage to homes and cracked bridges, a message of solace arrived from thousands of miles away. Pope Leo XIV, who holds a fondness for Cebu from past visits, extended his prayers and heartfelt sympathies to the victims.
Pope’s message
Cebu Archbishop Alberto Uy said he received a call from the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Charles John Brown, conveying Pope Leo XIV’s message of support for the survivors and prayers for those who perished.
The gesture connected the small, fearful community on a basketball court to a global congregation of faith. Meanwhile, the entire province had been placed under a state of calamity, with the total death toll from the quake rising to more than 60.
But for Quiazon and the families sharing the concrete floor, the larger declarations and distant prayers were a backdrop to a more immediate reality. They faced the uncertainty of the coming nights, waiting for the ground to still and for the day they could finally go home. / DPC, PNA