NINE months after typhoon Tino devastated Cebu City on Nov. 4, 2025, some displaced families continue to live in evacuation centers, still waiting for the permanent homes promised to them.
At the Urbanville Open Gym and Upper Site Open Gym in Barangay Pit-os, makeshift tents have become home for dozens of survivors who have spent months rebuilding their lives while relying on limited incomes.
Many of the families were initially sheltered in school evacuation centers in Barangay Bacayan before being transferred to Pit-os when classes resumed.
Among them is 64-year-old Leopoldo Espinosa, whose home in Sitio Common, Barangay Bacayan, was washed away by the typhoon. His family has spent about eight months in evacuation centers and is now waiting for the release of government construction materials so they can begin building a modest house at their assigned relocation site.
Residents have already organized weekly community cleanup activities to prepare their relocation area, but many families have yet to receive the promised construction materials needed to start rebuilding.
Uncertainty has grown after evacuees were informed that they may have to vacate the centers by the end of August, even as many still have no permanent place to move into.
Another evacuee, 34-year-old Reynaldo Suquib, has also been staying in the Pit-os evacuation center after his family was displaced from Barangay Bacayan. Like many others, they remain unable to return to their former community because it has been declared unsafe for habitation.
Life inside the evacuation centers has settled into a routine. Some residents earn a living through daily wage jobs, while others rely on pensions or small sources of income. Families also share the cost of water and electricity as they continue waiting for relocation assistance.
Typhoon Tino triggered widespread flooding, landslides, and destructive winds that claimed hundreds of lives and displaced thousands of families across Cebu City. As the disaster’s first anniversary approaches, many survivors have begun rebuilding, but others remain in evacuation centers, hoping the promise of a permanent home will soon become a reality.