A 12-member Davao City 911 Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and Fire Auxiliary Service Team safely returned to Davao City today after completing its deployment to Jose Abad Santos (JAS), Davao Occidental, from June 20 to 23, 2026.
Artificial Dam Successfully Breached
Jose Abad Santos Municipal Mayor Jason John Joyce announced that the artificial dam created by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake has been reopened. The stream, which had turned into an artificial dam after being blocked by soil deposits from the strong earthquake, was successfully breached.
“Successful nang nabutasan ang artificial dam sa San Isidro at dumadaloy na ang naipong tubig pababa sa Nuing River (The artificial dam in San Isidro has been successfully breached, and the accumulated water is now flowing downstream into the Nuing River),” Joyce wrote in a Facebook post on June 24, 2026. He thanked disaster response teams, volunteers, and responders who helped the municipality reopen the dam safely.
Evacuation and Risks
Earlier, the local government unit of JAS evacuated 2,000 residents from several barangays that could have been severely affected if the artificial dam had collapsed. Residents from Barangays Nuing, Butuan, Sugal, Camalian, and Malalan were evacuated. They were also warned against using boats along the river, which had been blocked and transformed into an artificial dam.
Amid persistent rains and concerns over the dam's stability, Office of Civil Defense Regional Director Ednar Dayanghirang said authorities considered three options to drain the accumulated water: breaching the blockage, manually excavating a channel through the dam, and siphoning water using large tubes to gradually reduce water levels.
Earthquake Details and Concerns
Davao Occidental Governor Franklin P. Bautista raised concerns about the artificial dam, warning that continued aftershocks could worsen the situation and endanger families living nearby. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Maasim, Sarangani, and was felt in some parts of Mindanao. The earthquake was recorded offshore of Sarangani at 7:37 a.m. on June 8, 2026. PHIVOLCS then issued a tsunami warning following the quake.
