Days after a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake tore through Davao Occidental and Sarangani province, Philippine Army Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) units are racing against time to bring life-saving supplies to isolated communities — many of them cut off by landslides and crumbled road infrastructure that have made conventional access nearly impossible.
According to an official statement released by the Philippine Army on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, HADR teams have been working in tandem with the Philippine Air Force to push relief goods into remote barangays across Jose Abad Santos in Davao Occidental and multiple localities throughout Sarangani province. The coordinated effort has already reached more than 600 families since operations formally kicked off, with airlift missions conducted continuously between June 11 and June 15, 2026.
Mobile Water Station Serves Hundreds of Displaced Families
One of the most urgent priorities in the earthquake's immediate aftermath was ensuring displaced residents had access to safe drinking water. The Philippine Army addressed this by deploying a Mobile Water Purification Station to Sitio Linao, Barangay Tinoto, in the municipality of Maasim, Sarangani — a community cut off from its normal water supply infrastructure following the powerful tremor.
The mobile unit produced and distributed roughly 190 gallons of clean, potable water to approximately 600 displaced families sheltering in the area, the Philippine Army said in its statement. The on-site purification capability is considered critical in earthquake response scenarios, as ground ruptures and landslides frequently destroy or contaminate existing water supply systems, creating immediate public health risks for affected populations.
Army responders additionally took part in the distribution of relief goods contributed by civilian volunteers to displaced residents in Barangay Butulan, Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental — further extending the reach of the military's humanitarian mission into communities that remained difficult to access by road.
Airlift Missions Ferry Nearly 5,000 Food Packs to Unreachable Villages
With landslides blocking road networks across mountainous sections of both affected provinces, air delivery became the primary — and in some cases the only — viable method of reaching isolated communities. The Philippine Air Force, working alongside Army HADR teams, conducted multiple airlift sorties to bring essential goods directly into cut-off barangays.
Target areas for the airlift operations included Barangays Molmol, Quiapo, San Isidro, and Sitio Makina of Barangay Kalbay — all within Jose Abad Santos — as well as Barangay E. Alegado in Glan, Sarangani. These locations were identified by the Philippine Army as among the hardest hit and the most difficult to supply through conventional overland means.
The Philippine Army reported that the following relief items were delivered via airlift operations between June 11 and June 15, 2026:
- Approximately 4,925 food packs
- 800 five-kilogram rice packs
- 3,400 bottles of water
- 400 boxes of assorted relief goods
- 100 containers of 20-liter potable water
- 40 cases of six-liter bottled water
The sheer volume of goods moved through air operations within just a few days underscores the urgency and scale of the military's humanitarian response, as first responders and government agencies work to reach as many affected families as possible while the critical window for immediate disaster response remains open.
Ground Convoys Supplement Air Deliveries from General Santos City
Airlift operations were complemented by overland convoys that moved relief supplies from General Santos City into accessible portions of the disaster zone. Army ground teams assisted with the loading, transport, and unloading of approximately 400 boxes of relief goods at designated distribution points throughout the affected areas, according to the Philippine Army's official statement.
Military personnel also facilitated the handling and onward distribution of aid delivered through the General Santos City International Airport by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). The airport has functioned as a critical staging and logistics hub for the entire relief operation, the Philippine Army noted, given the severely limited land access in many earthquake-affected communities.
The integration of both air and ground logistics channels has been essential to ensuring consistent supply delivery and minimizing gaps in coverage across the wide geographic area affected by the earthquake.
Search, Rescue, and Retrieval Teams Active in Landslide Zones
Beyond relief distribution, Philippine Army HADR units have been deployed in active search, rescue, and retrieval missions across landslide-hit portions of Davao Occidental and Sarangani. The 7.8-magnitude quake triggered substantial ground movement across the mountainous inland areas of both provinces, burying sections of communities and blocking critical access routes.
Landslides rank among the deadliest secondary hazards following major seismic events in the Philippines, particularly in highland terrain where earthquake-induced ground shaking can rapidly destabilize steep slopes laden with soil and rock. The Philippine Army's search and retrieval teams have been operating alongside other first-responder units to clear affected sites and account for residents still missing in the aftermath of the disaster.
As of the Philippine Army's most recent operational update, search and retrieval efforts were still ongoing in areas that remain difficult or impossible to access by both land and air — a situation that continues to present significant challenges for responders on the ground.
Multi-Agency Framework Guides Coordinated Response
The relief operation in Davao Occidental and Sarangani is being conducted under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) framework, which coordinates the roles of multiple government agencies in large-scale disaster response. Under this structure, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) serves as the lead agency for relief distribution, while the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) — including the Philippine Army and the Philippine Air Force — provides logistics infrastructure and operational support.
The Philippine Army said in its June 17 statement that its HADR teams are working closely with national government agencies and local government units (LGUs) throughout the affected areas to ensure that assistance reaches those who need it most, without duplication or gaps in coverage across the disaster zone.
The involvement of the Philippine Air Force has proven particularly indispensable in this operation, given the remote geography of the most severely affected communities — many of them nestled in mountainous interior areas of Davao Occidental and Sarangani that are accessible under normal conditions only by a handful of roads, all of which sustained heavy damage from landslides triggered by the quake.
Earthquake Background: Destruction Across Davao Occidental and Sarangani
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake caused widespread destruction across Davao Occidental — a largely rural province in the Davao Region of Mindanao bordering the Celebes Sea to the west — and neighboring Sarangani province, which shares a similar geography of coastal lowlands backed by steep inland mountain ranges. The seismic event triggered landslides, displaced thousands of residents across multiple barangays, and severely disrupted local infrastructure including roads, water systems, and communications networks.
The towns of Jose Abad Santos in Davao Occidental and Maasim and Glan in Sarangani were specifically identified in Philippine Army reports as priority areas for the current relief operation, given the extent of displacement recorded there and the compounded difficulty of delivering aid to those communities under existing access conditions.
Operations to Continue as Recovery Phase Approaches
The Philippine Army has indicated that HADR operations in the earthquake-affected zones will be sustained in the coming days, with priorities including completing the initial phase of relief distribution, continuing search and retrieval missions, and accounting for all displaced and affected residents. As the immediate emergency response phase eventually gives way to longer-term recovery efforts, the Army said coordination with civilian government agencies will remain central to its operations.
Further updates on the full scope of the relief effort, the total number of affected families across both provinces, and the status of ongoing search and retrieval operations are expected to be issued by the Philippine Army, the Office of Civil Defense, and the NDRRMC in the days ahead.
Originally reported by: Philippine News Agency / Philippine Army Public Affairs Office