The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has completed the country’s first “Bayanihan Village” in San Remigio, Cebu, providing modular shelter units (MSUs) for families displaced by the recent earthquake.

Constructed in just seven days through the collective effort of various government agencies and private partners, the Bayanihan Village in Barangay Poblacion will serve as a temporary refuge for earthquake victims who lost their homes.

"President Marcos Jr. directed us to provide our fellow Filipinos with safer and more comfortable shelters, which is why various government agencies worked together to quickly complete this Bayanihan Village," DHSUD Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling said.

Aliling underscored the “bayanihan” spirit that made the swift completion possible, noting that the initiative was a product of immediate and coordinated response among agencies and the private sector.

"This is the result of the swift response of many government agencies, along with the private sector, to the President’s call for unity and cooperation in helping Cebu recover," he added.

The DHSUD led the project in collaboration with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which handled site development; the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which will manage the facility; and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Coast Guard, and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), which ensured the timely delivery and installation of the modular units.

Two private companies also contributed manpower to assist in the rapid setup of the shelters.

Once the turnover is completed, the local government of San Remigio will handle beneficiary selection, site upkeep, and maintenance. Each cluster in the Bayanihan Village will have shared comfort rooms, lavatories, electricity, lighting, and windows for proper ventilation.

Meanwhile, similar Bayanihan Villages are being established in Daanbantayan, Cebu—one of the areas hardest hit by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake on 30 September—and in Tarragona, Davao Oriental, which was affected by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake on 10 October.