Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday renewed his call for a disaster response system that goes beyond relief operations, saying rehabilitation must follow to help calamity-hit communities recover and rebuild.
Cayetano made the statement during a Facebook livestream with Senator Robin Padilla while they were in Davao City before proceeding to Sarangani and General Santos City to extend help and construction materials to victims of the magnitude 7.8 offshore Sarangani earthquake.
“Y’ung relief efforts maganda ‘yan, pero importante y’ung rehabilitation,” the Minority Leader said on June 23, 2026.
While relief assistance remains important, Cayetano said the government must provide longer-term support for families whose homes were destroyed and for residents who lost their sources of income after the earthquake.
“They appreciate the help. Any help. Relief is very important. But we have to see things through. Hindi pwedeng kaunting tulong ang gobyerno tapos bahala na si Batman o bahala na kayo,” he emphasized.
Cayetano said this is especially true for affected communities in Sarangani and General Santos City, where hundreds of families lost their homes and livelihoods.
“Maraming totally damaged, partially damaged [ang bahay]. Maraming nawalan ng trabaho muna kasi nga nasira din y’ung kung saan sila nagtatrabaho. Then siyempre, y’ung mga estudyante na-trauma din,” he said.
The Minority Leader also called for prayers for the country, citing the Philippines’ exposure to typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.
Cayetano has long been pushing for a more comprehensive disaster response system covering relief, risk mitigation, and rehabilitation.
He has warned that without proper rehabilitation, communities hit by past disasters risk being forgotten before they are even able to recover, especially when another calamity strikes.
“We’re a country na mahigit 15 ang bagyo every year. May mga active tayong bulkan. Tapos y’ung lindol,” he said during the livestream.
Cayetano earlier filed Senate Bill No. 105, which seeks to create an Emergency Response Department that will serve as a “science-based, people-centered” agency in charge of disaster management from risk mitigation to rehabilitation.
The bill seeks to replace the current ad hoc setup that is activated only when calamities strike.
“Magaling na po tayo sa relief programs, pero sa rehabilitation at disaster management, mahina pa ho,” Cayetano earlier said.
“Kailangan po pagdating sa pagmi-mitigate ng mga disasters at tsaka pagdating po sa rehabilitation, may isang natuturo, may isang pong accountable, at isa pong nakatutok talaga d’yan,” he added.
Ahead of his Tuesday visit, Cayetano’s team, together with the office of his sister, Senator Pia Cayetano, had already provided hot meals, essential aid, and on-the-ground support to more than 2,800 earthquake victims across Sarangani, General Santos City, and Davao City from June 9 to 13, 2026.
Their teams were the first to reach the hard-to-access barangays of Mudan, Taluya, and Kaltuad in Glan, Sarangani, bringing urgent aid to residents after the quake.