Relatives pay tribute to loved ones buried in landslide

RELATIVES visit the site where 42 people were buried alive during an earthquake in February this year. Photo by Carine M. Asutilla/Inquirer Visayas

LA LIBERTAD, Negros Oriental—Joven Denolan and his two children walked for three kilometers on All Souls’ Day just to get to Sitio Bloke Dos, Barangay Sulonggan here.

They wanted to light candles and offer flowers, chocolates and biscuits to his wife, Maria Fe, and his father, Modesto, who were among the 42 persons buried alive during a massive landslide on Feb. 6, when a strong earthquake shook the northern part of Negros Oriental.

Only nine of the bodies were retrieved. The 33 others, including Maria Fe and Modesto, remained missing and are believed to be dead.

Biscuits and chocolates were favorites of Maria Fe, said Joven, who lives with his two children Mike, 9, and Jennifer 13, inside a tent near the barangay hall.

He recalled that he was in the mountains, cutting bamboos for their pigpen when the earthquake hit La Libertad about 11 a.m. on Feb. 6. He saw a portion of the mountain crack open and a huge black smoke came out. Then, he heard an explosion.

What followed shocked him: Mounds of earth covered the houses in Sitio Bloke.

“I knew my wife and father were already dead. There was no way they could have run out of the house because it happened too fast. I heard my neighbors screaming but the screams faded in seconds,” he said.

“I run down from the mountain, but when I reached the barangay road, I fainted. I was unconscious for about 15 minutes. I then saw my son and daughter running back to Bloke Dos to look for their mother,” said Joven.

Jennifer said her heart was beating fast when she saw the landslide from their school.

“I was having my lunch at that time outside our classroom. The ground shook and everyone was screaming. When I looked up, I saw the mountain falling down,” said Jennifer.

Joven said Maria Fe also considered Nov. 1 and 2 opportunities for family bonding. She would cook delicacies and share these with their neighbors. She would set aside some and bring these to the cemeteries for their dead loved ones.

“Now that my wife and father are gone, we no longer celebrate anything. I guess we will never celebrate even Christmas,” says Joven.

Aside from Joven, families of those who perished in the landslide also lighted candles and offered prayers at the site where their houses used to stand.

What remained now is a big white wooden cross in the site to remember the people who died in the tragedy. Names of the victims were etched on the cross.