Olongapo mayor’s wife goes home to bury sis

OLONGAPO CITY—It was not a happy Christmas homecoming for Anne Marie Gordon, the wife of Olongapo City Mayor James Gordon Jr.

Gordon returned to her native Cagayan de Oro City for the holidays to bury a sister who died in the floods that devastated her hometown following the heavy rains spawned by Tropical Storm “Sendong.”

The body of Gordon’s sister, Susan Cunada-Antolin, was found on December 19, two days after killer floods swept away riverside communities in Cagayan de Oro City. Susan drowned but her husband Eduardo and their son survived.

For Anne Marie Gordon, the scale of the devastation in her hometown was so overwhelming that “I couldn’t … forget about it ever.”

“The effects of [Tropical Storm] ‘Ondoy’ in Manila, that’s nothing. Bodies were piled up everywhere and funeral parlors were turning away the dead because they couldn’t handle them,” she said.

“For you to understand what happened, you have to be there. Only a few structures remained. Even concrete houses [were] destroyed,” she said.

But she believes that like the residents of Olongapo after the city was ravaged by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption 20 years ago, the people of Cagayan de Oro will be able to recover and rebuild their lives.

Gordon, a former vice governor of Zambales, snapped out of her grief and right away started a campaign to bring cash donations and relief goods to the city.

“Helping out in times of calamity is not something new to us here in Olongapo. We’ve always done this. For example, when strong typhoons hit Botolan, Zambales, we were the first ones there. This time, however, it’s [personal because of my sister],” she said.

Torpedoed in the darkness

According to Gordon, Susan was the sixth of nine children. Her family operated a farm and a store in Cagayan de Oro.

Susan, her husband and son were on the second floor of their house when rampaging flood waters, which carried mud, rocks and logs, smashed into their home and swept them away.

“She couldn’t swim and the floodwaters were as high as a three-story building, with mud and logs. They destroyed everything in their path,” Gordon said.

It took two days for Susan’s body to be found. She was identified by her husband only through the nail polish on her toenails and dental marks.

Susan’s bloated body was found in another village and placed in a dump, along with other victims of Sendong.

According to Mayor Gordon, Susan’s face was struck by a log so that “they couldn’t identify her immediately.”

“There were hundreds in [the village of Macasandig] who drowned in the darkness. The illegally cut trees became torpedoes that smashed even concrete houses to pieces. Susan’s house was one of them. I am told that her family stayed on the second floor of their home. Since there really was nothing that could be done, they just hugged each other until their house was destroyed and they were swept away,” he said.

Outpouring of help

Mayor Gordon said there was an outpouring of aid in Olongapo City for the victims of Sendong in Mindanao.

“We were able to solicit the assistance of [courier firm] LBC so donations could be sent there free of charge. We also asked people [from all walks of life] to give what they can. Even [Olongapo’s] business community responded to this call,” he said.

Aurelio Pineda, president of the Metro Olongapo Chamber of Commerce, said the money solicited from members were turned over to Gordon so this could be given to officials and groups involved in relief and rehabilitation efforts in Cagayan de Oro City.

“We will also send additional assistance there. [Our local] radio station, dwOK-FM and dwGO-AM, also had a fundraising telethon,” he said.

In Bataan, the Catholic Diocese of Balanga donated P849,084 to typhoon victims of Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and Dumaguete Cities.

Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos said the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro received P424,542 while the dioceses of Iligan and Dumaguete received  P254,725.20 and P169,816.80, respectively.

“We are praying for them and in solidarity to help,” Santos said.

Gordon said she turned over the cash donations from Olongapo to Cagayan de Oro Mayor Vicente Emano.

“I empathize with the victims as I too lost a member of my family and I hope the donation sent by the city government of Olongapo and its people could help the victims in any way possible,” she said.

Former Senator Richard Gordon, Gordon’s brother-in-law and chair of the Philippine Red Cross who was already in Cagayan de Oro helping the flood victims when she arrived, said one of the priorities of the Red Cross is to relocate the families displaced by the floods to safer locations.

“We are going to build homes [for the displaced residents of Cagayan de Oro]. But right now, we’ve already provided tents for them,” he said. With a report from Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon