Filipino Mayor Appeals for Helicopter Aid Drops as 7.8 Earthquake Isolates Remote Villages]

The mayor of a southern Philippine town devastated by a powerful earthquake pleaded for helicopters on Thursday to deliver food to several landslide-isolated villages.

The 7.8 magnitude offshore quake—one of the strongest to hit the archipelago in half a century—struck off Sarangani Province on Monday, killing at least 47 people and injuring 688 others, with 31 still missing.

More than 45,000 people remain displaced, roughly half in emergency shelters, following damage to over 12,600 homes in farming towns and cities. Many residents were too traumatized to return due to ongoing aftershocks, provincial officials said.

Sarangani recorded 20 deaths from the quake, the highest toll among affected provinces, primarily from a landslide that buried homes in the coastal town of Glan, according to the government’s Office of Civil Defence.

Glan Mayor Victor James Yap said power has not been restored in his province, and 10 of 31 villages in his town of over 100,000 people remain inaccessible, largely due to landslides. He urged the government to immediately deploy air force helicopters to deliver food and other humanitarian aid.

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