Validation reduces Cebu quake death toll to 68 – OCD
Published Oct 3, 2025 12:06 pm
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Updated Oct 3, 2025 01:07 pm
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approaches a kid on the street holding a sign requesting food and water in the aftermath of a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in northern Cebu on Oct. 2, 2025. (Presidential Communications Office)
An ongoing validation of fatalities due to the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that jolted northern Cebu last Sept. 30 has reduced the death toll to 68, the Office of Civil Defense confirmed on Friday, Oct. 3.
From an earlier report of 72 dead, a report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) showed four fatalities were subtracted from the latest tally as of 6 a.m.
OCD deputy spokesperson Diego Agustin Mariano said the reduction was a result of the ongoing validation process by the Management of the Dead and Missing (MDM) Cluster led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
“The numbers may increase or decrease as validation of the MDM led by DILG is ongoing,” he told reporters.
The MDM is a subcluster composed of a group of government agencies under the Response Cluster of the NDRRMC.
Under the MDM, Mariano said the reported deaths undergo proper tagging and documentation, which includes the issuance of a death certificate, especially for mass casualty events, to verify if the cause of death of a fatality is related to a certain event.
The initial tally of 72 dead came from the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) while the validated figure of 68 came from the MDM, “which was activated only recently,” Mariano said.
There have been similar cases in the past where the disaster agency would lower the death toll due to a repetition of the names of fatalities at the tally of local disaster officials, or some of those tagged as dead were later found alive as in the case of Severe Tropical Storm Nando where a local disaster official reported several deaths in Bicol region only to clarify they were rescued.
Meanwhile, the powerful earthquake has already affected 80,595 families or 366,360 individuals in 106 barangays in Central Visayas (Region 7).
There were 1,795 individuals staying in eight evacuation centers while 75,227 others were temporarily staying outside of their homes due to fear of aftershocks.
Urgent need for tents
Among those displaced were residents in Bogo City, the epicenter of the quake, who were photographed sleeping on the roadside with only plastic over their bodies as a protective cover.
OCD spokesperson Junie Castillo said the disaster agency was rushing to transport food and non-food items in Cebu, including tents, for the evacuees.
“What they need here are tents for the displaced residents because aftershocks continue and they cannot go back to their homes right away,” he said.
“Many residents are staying in open areas because this is unlike when a typhoon occurs that the evacuees are inside structures,” he added.
Aside from tents, the evacuees also need safe drinking water.
“The pipelines for the water are compromised due to the earthquake. They also need food so we are doing our best to replenish the food supply and non-food items,” Castillo said.