LAMENTATIONS Magdalena Estaniel faints on seeing the body of her husband Jolito in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental. ALANAH TORRALBA
LA LIBERTAD, Negros Oriental—Amid dimming hopes, Manolo Magalso carefully moved about in the rubble where his home once stood on a mountain slope in Barangay (village) Solonggon here, looking for clues to where he could start digging for the bodies of his loved ones.
An entire neighborhood of 60 houses was buried in the village when a portion of a hill collapsed during the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked the islands of Negros and Cebu on Monday.
Also badly hit was the adjacent city of Guihulngan where 21 people were killed and at least 29 others were reported missing during a landslide.
Magalso, 33, was plowing his field when he felt the ground move at 11:49 a.m. on Monday.
“I looked at my house and saw the mountain above it slide and cover my house with my family inside it. I could only watch and cry,” he said, trying to keep a brave face.
Family losses
The farmer was still trying to figure out where to dig for the bodies of his wife, Lorna, 32, and children—John Mark, 8; Jira Mae, 6; and Charity Joy, 8 months.
Magalso’s elder brother, Primitivo, 47, also lost his two daughters, Sheila May, 16, and Kristel Jane, 15. Another brother, Wilson, 45, lost his home but saved his family.
A total of 43 residents of Solonggon were buried by the landslide.
As of Tuesday afternoon, rescuers from the Philippine Army, provincial government, police and municipality were able to recover only one body, identified as that of 21-year-old Cindy Lisondra.
The woman had sent a text message to her boyfriend from under the rubble at around 9 p.m. on Monday. It was, however, too late when the rescuers led by the boyfriend reached her.
Minda Morante, the regional director of the Office of the Civil Defense, expressed hope that residents were able to get out of their houses before the mounds of earth fell.
“It was so difficult to conclude (that something bad happened to them) because it could be that they had gone to higher grounds and were just isolated,” Morante told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview.
Sound of earth moving
In Guihulngan, Morante said fear still gripped the residents, more so as aftershocks continued. She was in the city to assess the damage brought by the devastating earthquake.
“Everywhere you go, you can hear a sound of the earth moving. You don’t know where to look at, where to hold,” she said in Filipino.
Some people preferred to stay in makeshift tents outside their houses where they felt safer, Morante said.
“They feel more comfortable sleeping outside their homes even if it rains. They are scared that debris might fall on them,” she said.
Even patients of the hospital in Guihulngan had been moved to tents outside the facility out of fear that another earthquake would occur.
Among those who put up tents on the hills, about 500 meters from Barangay Poblacion, were Councilor Ana Carla Villarmente and her family.
“We are scared to go back because the tremors continue,” she said. “We will stay here until we are told that it is safe to go home.”
Phivolcs team
Government scientists have recorded close to 900 aftershocks in the Visayas since a previously undiscovered fault line caused the ground to shake in the region on Monday.
A team of geologists and seismologists was deployed yesterday by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to conduct a postquake assessment in Negros Oriental following the 6.9-magnitude temblor.
“We assure our countrymen, especially those in the earthquake-damaged areas, that the DOST-Phivolcs (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology) is doing its best to monitor all events related to the Cebu-Negros earthquake,” said Science Secretary Mario Montejo.
“We are doing this to deepen our own knowledge of what happened and continually provide our people with the relevant information they need to understand this earthquake and cope with its effects,” Montejo said in a statement.
The team will visit Tayasan and La Libertad towns to determine possible hazards created by the earthquake, including “landslides, liquefaction, ground rupture and tsunami” near the epicenter. It will also install equipment to accurately measure the strength of aftershocks in the area.
Evacuees’ needs
Villarmente said the evacuees were running out of clean water because their water stations were no longer functioning after power was cut off following the earthquake. They could not also get water from springs since these were covered with soil.
The evacuees got news only through text messages, the official said. But their mobile phones were running out of battery life.
There was not enough gasoline for generator sets in Guihulngan. The only gasoline station in Guihulngan was fast running out of supply.
Villarmente said food and rice were scarce since all the grocery stores and convenience stores were closed. A portion of the public market collapsed. The Land Bank of the Philippines building was leaning on one side.
People were advised to stay away from the Hall of Justice building, which sank a few feet, as well as some buildings with second floors that had cracked.
Many of the roads had cracks, making these passable only to light vehicles. Several bridges in the city had also collapsed.
Prayer power
Villarmente also appealed for medicines, antibiotics and first aid kits, especially for children who suffered bruises and cuts during the evacuation.
Although their situation was difficult, Villarmente remained thankful “that the earthquake happened at noon because the children were with the families.”
“We are thankful that it is not raining because otherwise, the tents would not be able to protect us,” she added.
Villarmente said the evacuees had been praying the rosary to ask God to keep them safe. Some had brought with them crucifixes and religious icons along with their few belongings.
“We are praying that we will be saved, that our families would be intact and for God to protect us,” Villarmente said. With a report from Tarra Quismundo in Manila