In quake-hit Manay, medical tent set up beside damaged hospital

MANAY, Davao Oriental (MindaNews / 12 October) —  When Secretary Vince Dizon of the Department of Public Works and Highways  declared this hospital unsafe for use, Dr. Bernadette Rivera had only one thing on her mind: water. 

Outside the rubble of what used to be the Manay District Hospital, Rivera approached high officials clad in red vests from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as Dizon spoke to media and other cabinet secretaries.

The doctor had found the best opportunity to get something done for potential patients of what used to be a 25-bed hospital and what would be a field hospital made of tents in front of it.

Most of the patients of the now unsafe one-story Manay District Hospital have been discharged, so incoming patients will be attended to at the medical tent. 

But Rivera and her team cannot attend to the patients without any running water. 

^{Medical tent set up beside the Manay District Hospital which was declared unsafe by Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon on 11 October 2025. MindaNews photo by GREGORIO C. BUENO}

Water pressure has been intermittent, if any at all, in the area a day after two quakes, a Magnitude 7.4 and another 6.9 struck off the coast last Friday: once in the morning, and another at night. 

In some areas in the province, water is being rationed between set hours in the morning.

According to locals, a major pipe burst due to the quake. MindaNews could not yet independently verify this. 

After the morning quake,  photos and videos of the district hospital had already made rounds online, with worried netizens saddened about its state. 

^{The Manay District Hospital in Davao Oriental in the aftermath of the October 10, 2025 quake. The hospital has been declared unsafe and a medical tent has been set up in front of it to attend to the needs of patients. MindaNews photo by GREGORIO C. BUENO}

Rivera said she rotated service along with five other doctors, with the assistance of 71 staff, who now run the makeshift hospital, the tents provided by the DSWD. 

The hospital staff has discharged at least seven patients by Saturday, the patients eager to go home, anxious of the random quakes and aftershocks. 

Sixty-eight year-old Cesar Balante was the last patient.

Rivera said the elderly patient was waiting to be transferred to the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center (DOPMH) in Mati City, 66 kilometers away,  where his heart condition could be better treated. 

When the quake hit, Balante and his wife narrowly escaped falling ceilings and blocked doors. “Salamat buhi pa mi” (Thank God we are still alive). he said. “Maayo na lang kay okay ra akong asawa” (It’s good my wife is okay). 

He said he had only a pair of shirts and pants left. “Naa mi sa tent karon. Init kaayo, pero okay ra” (We stay in a tent now. It’s so hot but we’re okay), he said. 

Dizon inspected the hospital Friday noon, arriving on board a Philippine Air Force Blackhawk. 

He was accompanied by the secretaries of Social Welfare and Development, Education, as well as the secretary of the Mindanao Development Authority. 

Rivera reported at 6 a.m. on Friday and was in the ward when the quake struck at   9:43 a.m.  

She barely had sleep but doctors are used to this, by profession. “Sanayan na lang” (We’re used to this), she said, joking that she slept like a chicken.

Rivera and the rest of the hospital staff were able to retrieve some medicines and equipment from the severely damaged hospital.

There is power from a nearby generator, there are tents, and essentially the hospital still exists, but without the building. 

The medical tent, however, cannot function properly, with no water to feed patients or for washing and sanitizing and other medical procedures. 

The hospital team could not even stock up on bottled water, as residents have been buying in bulk after the quake.

Major portions of the hospital have been destroyed by the quake, with walls and ceilings turning into rubble, and medical equipment among the resulting mess on the ground. 

Batas Pambansa Blg. 297 established the municipal hospital in 1982, then known as Manay Emergency Hospital. 

Ten years later, Republic Act 7632 legally increased the hospital’s capacity from 10 to 25 and renamed it the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center – Manay. 

Social welfare secretary Rex Gatchalian told Rivera that the agency would provide more tents if necessary, with the DSWD setting up at least 10 by the time the Cabinet members arrived in the area.

As Dizon and the other officials spoke to one another outside what would become a field hospital, Manay Municipal Mayor Jon Marco Dayanghirang arrived and said the entire town lacked water.

Dizon connected Dayanghirang to the Local Water Utilities Administration, which apparently promised Dizon an expedited release of water equipment, based on an audible part of a phone call.

Dizon passed his phone to Mayor Dayanghirang, who promptly asked the LWUA for assistance. (Yas Ocampo / MindaNews)