Volunteer groups and vloggers deliver ayuda faster in quake-stricken remote villages in Glan and Jose Abad Santos
BARANGAY BALITON, Glan, Sarangani (MindaNews / 22 June 2026) — Volunteer groups and vloggers appear to be delivering ayuda faster in far-flung areas across Glan, Sarangani and Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental, according to locals affected by the June 8 Magnitude 7.8 earthquake.
Osman Salisipan, 62, former barangay captain in Barangay Pangyan, Glan, said they are grateful to vloggers and volunteers who stop by.
“Mas paspas ang vlogger kaysa government,” he said.
Residents displaced by the quake in the lower part of the village who sought shelter in upper Sitio Melchumo here, shared the same experience.
“There are vloggers who stop by to give us food,” the group of bakwits (evacuees) in Melchumo answered, almost in chorus.
The apparent delay of government assistance to the survivors of the June 8 quake is caused by several factors, among them accessibility and communications.
From Glan to Jose Abad Santos (JAS), MindaNews noted at least 20 landslides that had been cleared as of Saturday.
In some instances, only one lane was passable.
In one of the landslides in Barangay Balangonan in JAS, instead of scraping and hauling the debris from the road, workers engineered for vehicles to pass over.
While phone signal was available, data was sparse across both municipalities. In Glan, one could make phone calls in some places while losing data signals in another location. In Gumasa, a barangay in Glan, signal was stable, but power interruptions were expected very night. In Barangay Sugal, JAS, it was difficult to find telco data signal. While vendo “Piso-Net” machines were available, those nearby, mostly bakwits (evacuees) availing of the cheap public data, were all crammed together in one Pisonet stall.
“Agi-agihan ra mi”
In uphill Sitio Melchumo, some 10 minutes away from the Poblacion, 15 families huddled around three makeshift tents outside a chapel made of bamboo and nipa on Saturday. They said barangay officials have not done a census of how many bakwits(evacuees) there are.
From the 15 families of around 80 individuals, 14 houses were toppled by the quakes.
The bakwits here find that there were government agencies simply passing through. “Agi-agihan ra mi.”
MindaNews stumbled upon the bakwits kilometers away from their home. Asked why they chose to stay here, they said they were either afraid of the sea or had no more house to go home to.
Throughout both seaboards of Sarangani and Davao Occidental, most bakwits have elected to tent their families outside homes, whether or not the house was still standing.
Fisherfolk afraid of the sea
In Barangay Baliton, where the sea was an abundant provider of food and corals provided homes for fish and other sea creatures, the fisherfolk are too afraid to return.
They were also prohibited from panginhas, or foraging for edible seafood from the ocean floor, as well as in areas where there are coastal uplifts.
The coastal uplift, caused by the Magnitude 7.8 quake on June 8, 2026, has changed the coast and exposed what were once submerged coral reefs and marine habitats.
Ruby Anne Terol, 25, Baliton SK Federation President said she was communicating cwith the Gelayo Family from Davao City to help identify residents that needed food and other supplies.
Another group of volunteers coming from Barangay Binugao in Toril, Davao City and from other areas in the city, arrived and gave out gallons of water to the communities parked along Barangay Burias in Glan.
“Will you be listing our names?” the bakwits asked.
“List our names”
In Sitio Melchumo, the bakwits asked if their names and basic information could be listed to help people know where they have sought refuge.
Fisherman Arman Mamon, 43, said he has a family of four to feed but aside from the lack of food, he was also afraid of going back to Barangay Baliton. “We’re not sure what will happen to us if we go back to the sea,” he said.
Hasmin Elon, 36, and Nur Mate, 30, have households of nine members each; Tony Damie, 61, and Tahir Elon, 44, have eight each, and Tahir’s wife, Karya, had recently given birth; Angelica Ilon, 29 has a household of five; Asma D. Mocles, 31, and Sarya Dao, 50, Haron Ilon, 43, Amir Macot, 26, and Zakiya Sulaiman, 54, have four each.
Alona Samal, 47, lives with her child.
Victor Macot, 46, has a family of seven. When interviewed, he was back in Barangay Baliton, Glan, cleaning up his home and finding an opportunity to wash up.
Fajaruddin Balang, 35, was hit by a hollow block and had just returned home after a medical check up in General Santos.
Samsudin Olarte, 21, was back in Barangay Baliton, cleaning up his home. His parents were in Balut Island, Sarangani and could not join him in Baliton.
Macot, Balang and Olarte, all of Barangay Baliton, evacuated to Sitio Melchumo in Barangay Sugal, Jose Abad Santos.
Leah Mamon, 57, lives with five others. Some of her children are fishermen. “But now the sea is father away,” she said.
Salihin Daud, 56, is a barangay auxiliary who has elected to evacuate.
Roadside SOS
On the roadside throughout Glan and Jose Abad Santos, residents put up signs asking for food and water.
In Barangay Burias in Glan, the women in the tents spoke enthusiastically to youth volunteers to ask help for powdered milk and diapers.
Salisipan, the former barangay captain in neighboring Barangay Pangyan, said there were 13 tents and 24 families who pitched tents uphill. Apparently to assist rescuers, the residents painted a wooden sign with the words “13 tents and 24 families.”
Towards Barangay Sugal in JAS, MindaNews passed through various heavily cracked roads and recently cleared landslides.
There were numerous tents pitched all across the roads, where passing vehicles could give out assistance.
Challenges
JAS Mayor Jason John Joyce and Glan Mayor Victor James Yap each faced challenges in their municipalities.
Both towns suffered the brunt of the earthquake that registered Intensity VIII in Glan and Intensity VII in Jose Abad Santos. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), Intensity VIII is “very destructive” while Intensity VII is “destructive.”
Damages to roads and poor telecommunications system in the early days of the June 8 quake and its aftershocks led to a logistical nightmare of isolated communities.
Infrastructure damage included Glan’s own Municipal Hall, which was abandoned after a Magnitude 6.7 quake in November 2023. Repairs started in February this year, but the it buckled down under its own weight during the Magnitude 7.8 quake on June 8.
In both towns, MindaNews passed by several areas where houses, mosques, barangay gyms were flattened.
Joyce worked with the Philippine Air Force and Office of Civil Defense to help deploy black hawk helicopters to bring relief goods to at least 15 isolated barangays.
Yap, meanwhile, said the have spent their P10 million quick response fund within days, and asked help from national agencies to assist in providing mobile filtration devices as well as air drops to isolated communities.
In Glan’s Barangay Burias, where residents and resort owners of a strip of beach found themselves having a farther beachfront, around 15 off road vehicles coming from as far as Bukidnon and South Cotabato visited the new terrain and provided assistance. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)
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