Awake at night

Disasters are nothing new to many people in the Philippines. Typhoons hit the Philippines with depressing regularity and gravity.

Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,000 people in 2013; Rai caused more than USD 1 billion of damage in 2021, and six typhoons hit within the space of a month in 2024.

But earthquakes are less frequent. Roughly ten major quakes have shaken the Philippines since the year 2000 but most living this particular part of the country had never experienced an earthquake before.

In fact, the specific faultline that caused the September 2025 Cebu earthquake had been dormant for more than 400 years. So earthquakes were not something that kept people awake at night.

They are now.

'Once I knew my family was safe, I started answering calls.'

“I was with my siblings at home when the earthquake started. There are nine of us, including four children,” Philippine Red Cross volunteer Margien Baterna, 29, says. “I didn’t realise at first that it was an earthquake because it built slowly, but then it felt like there was a giant outside.

“When the shaking stopped, I grabbed two of the children and ran outside. Once I knew my family was safe, I started answering calls from people asking for help .”

Just like any ordinary night, an emergency response team had been on standby at the Philippine Red Cross Bogo City branch.

After escaping the badly damaged building with a handful of bruises, they helped mobilise volunteers across the city in response to the distress calls flooding in to the Philippine Red Cross 143 emergency number.

In those first few hours, the teams were in constant action: helping with search and rescue, treating people with a variety of injuries, transporting people to the hospital and providing comfort wherever they could. The next day, reinforcements arrived from Cebu City in the centre of the island.

“We were constantly running with the ambulance; one call after another,” Margien says. "Even when your body was resting your mind wasn’t. You’re always looking around to see if it’s safe.”

'It was a nightmare'

One of the emergency calls to which they responded hit the Red Cross team especially hard.

Their team leader Jose Ian Riveral Ho had been found dead in the rubble of his house, curled around his son, who survived.

“It was a nightmare,” Margien says. “I heard the call, and I went there immediately. I broke down. I could not accept it. Ian was my mentor, he is the one who recognised me at Red Cross."

Known to everyone as Ian, he had been a Red Cross volunteer since 2013. A trained emergency medical technician, he was a senior volunteer and Emergency Medical Services Team Leader for the ambulance team.

A first aid instructor and lifeguard, he was very active within the chapter, mentoring many young volunteers.

“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here. If Ian was still alive, he would be here with us right now. We will help a lot more people because of him.”

Easing the pain: The Red Cross response

Red Cross helped those living in the tent cities move to the Bogo Sports Complex – the main evacuation centre – or to stay with friends.

They then started packing down the tents, stopping only when conditions made it too dangerous to continue.

To help ease some of the fear in the evacuation centre, volunteers positioned and staffed a vehicle outside so they could quickly go for help if something happened to the building.

In Medellin, Rona - her leg still immobilised after surgery – and her extended family stayed with friends. They packed down and secured their temporary shelter and meagre belongings, then piled into a small truck to get to safety.

Once the storm had passed, they returned and rebuilt their shelter.

Four days later when Super Typhoon Fung-Wong threatened, they went through the whole process again.