Children left shaken by the disaster and families stripped of their homes are at the centre of the relief now arriving in southern Philippines, where General Santos City Mayor Lorelie Pacquiao has welcomed the Emirati humanitarian operation responding to the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that tore through the region on June 8.
Sitting down with the UAE response team deployed across the affected zones, Pacquiao framed the assistance as more than a delivery of goods. “UAE humanitarian aid is not only about providing food, medicine and basic necessities, but also about giving affected families a sense of security and hope, while alleviating the suffering of children who endured difficult moments as a result of the earthquake and the fear, loss and damage it caused to homes and facilities,” she said.
The mayor tied the relief to a pattern of Emirati outreach during global emergencies. “The UAE consistently demonstrates its commitment to offering assistance to those in need across the globe, standing by communities in times of hardship and disaster,” she said, adding that the support reflects values she described as deeply rooted in the country.
On the ground, the operation has concentrated on Sarangani Province, among the hardest-hit areas. According to the UAE’s state news agency WAM, the response team handed out roughly 700 food parcels and 500 gallons of drinking water to families there, with the distribution carried out in coordination with local officials and overseen by Mohamed Obaid Salem Al Qatam Alzaabi, the UAE Ambassador to the Philippines. Khaleej Times, which reported from the distribution site, noted that UAE Aid was the first foreign organisation to reach the coastal municipality of Glan with relief.
A far larger push is being prepared. The UAE has set out plans to send more than 20,000 food parcels and 20,000 gallons of drinking water in the operation’s next stage, aimed at sustaining families as they begin to recover.
The quake ranks among the deadliest to strike the country in roughly half a century. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has recorded 78 deaths, with hundreds injured and more than 70,000 homes damaged across Mindanao. General Santos City, alongside the provinces of Sarangani and South Cotabato, absorbed some of the worst destruction, prompting declarations of a state of calamity in several localities.
Relief teams remain in the field carrying out direct assessments of what displaced families need, with conditions in parts of Sarangani complicated by landslide-blocked roads and dwindling supplies of food and water in cut-off villages.
