Mindanao quake batters tuna trade, spares macro outlook

By Erika Mae P. Sinaking, Reporter and Justine Irish D. Tabile, Senior Reporter

CAROLINE I. LOBO feared she would fall as the ground lurched beneath her during the earthquake that struck General Santos City in southern Philippines, forcing her to hold on as violent shaking gripped their facility.

“‘It’s really happening,’ I said to myself,” Ms. Lobo, group human resources manager at Divine J Tuna Corp., told BusinessWorld in Filipino. “This is the first time we experienced something like that.”

The magnitude 7.8 quake off Sarangani on June 8 disrupted tuna exports from General Santos City, the country’s tuna capital, halting shipments and damaging inventory as airport and port operations stalled.

Eusebio N. Baladiang, Jr., vice-president of the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the shutdown of General Santos International Airport affected the movement of high-value tuna.

“We transport the tuna by plane, especially the big ones,” he said by teleconference. “They’re shipped fresh and they have to be transported by plane. The sector has definitely been affected.”

Export activity slowed sharply as one of Mindanao’s main logistics gateways ceased operations. Damage to port facilities compounded the disruption, limiting both domestic and international trade flows.

Francisco Cid L. Terosa, an associate professor and former dean of the School of Economics at the University of Asia and the Pacific, said the economic effects remain concentrated in southern areas despite the scale of physical damage.

“The impact of the Mindanao earthquake on economic growth and inflation will remain limited and localized,” he told BusinessWorld.

SOCCSKSARGEN, General Santos City and Davao Occidental absorbed the heaviest impact, affecting fishing, food manufacturing, warehousing, storage and agribusiness operations, he said.

Brownouts and logistics bottlenecks disrupted supply chains across affected provinces. Export production of canned seafood products also halted as facilities assessed damage and addressed safety concerns.

Regional centers such as Davao City, Cagayan de Oro City and Bukidnon sustained minimal disruption, helping contain spillover effects on the broader economy.

“Financing the recovery of affected areas would be a greater concern, given other fiscal burdens of the government,” Mr. Terosa said. He added that inflationary effects are likely to stay localized.

Government data showed 68 people have died, while more than 300,000 families had been affected as of June 16. Infrastructure damage has reached P148 million, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Calixto V. Chikiamco, president of the Foundation for Economic Freedom, said damage to transport infrastructure could weigh on regional trade.

“Reports indicate that the ports of General Santos were badly damaged, and that will crimp the ability of the economy in General Santos and Sarangani province to trade,” he said in a Viber message.

Raul Q. Montemayor, national director of the Federation of Free Farmers, said disruptions could add pressure to rising input costs. “This will exacerbate the effects of El Niño and the spike in fuel and fertilizer prices,” he said via Viber.

Business groups said transport, retail, hospitality, healthcare and tourism were among those hardest hit by the quake.

Mr. Baladiang said major shopping malls remained closed pending structural inspections, preventing tenants from resuming operations.

“So, the retail business really is affected because imagine how many stalls in the malls are closed,” he said.

‘SAFETY CONCERNS’
Hospital services also faced strain as damaged sections limited capacity and forced the use of temporary facilities. Authorities deployed safety tags to assess building integrity, restricting access to unsafe structures.

Romeo “RJ” A. Sustiguer, Jr., president of the South Cotabato Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, said micro and small enterprises face the greatest risk because many owners also sustained personal losses.

“Definitely, the most vulnerable sector is really the small and microenterprises,” he told BusinessWorld by telephone.

He said businesses in less affected areas could recover within about a month if strong aftershocks don’t persist. Tourism activity has also slowed as travelers avoid areas near the epicenter.

Labor groups warned of longer disruptions in sectors such as education and services.

Maria Nelfa P. Bermudez, vice-president for Mindanao of the Federation of Free Workers, said the earthquake has affected both employees and students.

“School rehabilitation and repair may really take months or even years depending on the severity of the damage,” she said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Divine J Tuna illustrates the disruption at the company level. It sustained immediate losses at its General Santos Fish Port facility, where tuna stocks and imported goods from India, South Korea and Brazil were displaced during the quake, Ms. Lobo said.

“There was significant damage to inventory because our stocks were spilled,” she said by telephone.

Inventory losses reflect only part of the financial impact. The company closed several branches for two days, leading to losses of about P500,000. Storage facilities at the port hold roughly P10 million worth of stock, which could face further risk if infrastructure weakens.

Communication breakdowns worsened the situation. A citywide loss of power and cellular signal left Ms. Lobo unable to contact supervisors for two days, slowing response efforts and coordination.

“It was really difficult to manage at that time,” she said.

A tsunami warning added to the uncertainty at the fish port, where about 100 employees were stationed during the immediate aftermath of the quake.

Recovery remains fragile as aftershocks continue to rattle the region. Ms. Lobo said business operations might take at least a month to stabilize, although the timeline depends on the frequency and severity of tremors.

Business leaders said restoring logistics and reopening infrastructure would be critical to economic recovery. Local governments have been urged to speed up safety inspections and permit processing to let businesses resume operations.

Access to financing remains a key concern for enterprises seeking to rebuild and sustain operations during the recovery period, Mr. Sustiguer said.

Despite heavy localized damage, analysts said the national economy is unlikely to suffer a significant blow due to the geographic concentration of the disaster and the resilience of other regional growth centers.

Still, the earthquake has exposed vulnerabilities in logistics networks and disaster preparedness, particularly in areas heavily dependent on export industries such as tuna.

“Safety concerns really affect business confidence and the morale of the people,” Ms. Lobo said.