Relief in Cebu: Reaching Families That Were Left Behind March 26, 2026 | Balamban, Cebu
When disaster strikes, the first wave of relief rarely reaches everyone. Some communities are too remote. Some families arrive at distribution sites after the supplies run out. Some are simply missed.
The Order of Malta Philippines returned to Cebu on March 26, 2026, specifically for those families.
The second round of relief distribution was held at the Paroqquia de San Francisco de Asis Covered Court in the Municipality of Balamban, Cebu. Two hundred families, approximately 1,000 individuals, received NFI (Non-Food Item) kits including pails and jerry cans, hygiene kits with bath towels, soap, laundry soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, cleaning and sanitation materials, and medicines for pain and fever.
These were families from different sitios who had not been included in the initial distribution conducted in December 2025. Some had walked half an hour to reach the distribution site, knowing that the cost of tricycle fare back would leave them with nothing, so they saved it for the return journey, loaded with supplies.
During interviews conducted after the distribution, several families shared that it was the first time they had received this kind of assistance. Their gratitude was palpable. It was the gratitude of people who had waited, and had not been forgotten after all.
The OMP team, led by President Josephine E. Bantug and Hospitaller Lena L. Vera, also used the visit to begin planning a proposed rehabilitation phase, a shelter kit program for families, to be implemented in partnership with the Paroqquia de San Francisco de Asis, which will conduct the selection process based on criteria provided by the OMP.
The work in Cebu is not finished. It has entered a new phase.
