Father helpless as he watches waves sweep away his family

A pile of debris is what remains of this seaside village in Tacloban City. When Supertyphoon “Yolanda” hit the city on Nov. 8, 2013, Jason Malbuerto helplessly watched as violent tsunami-like waves snatched his wife and son from his hold right before his eyes. AP PHOTO/BULLIT MARQUEZ

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—Jason Malbuerto helplessly watched as violent tsunami-like waves snatched his “life” right before his eyes.

The 29-year-old salesman was a portrait of misery as he recalled that fateful dawn of Nov. 8 when three-story-high storm surges powered by monster winds carried by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: “Haiyan”) swept away the entire seaside community in Barangay 1 and 4 in Magallanes district here.

He was clutching his 10-month-old son in his right arm while his other hand was tightly holding on to the wooden window of their neighbor’s house. His wife, Joy Laarni, 26, was clinging to his left arm for dear life.

But he lost his grip on the baby when a big wave hit them. Seconds later, his wife was also swept away by raging waters.

“I saw how the powerful waves took them away from me. I was there, but I couldn’t do anything to save them,” Malbuerto said, weeping while grasping the blue rosary he was wearing around his neck.

“I wanted to shout. I wanted to tell my wife and my son how much I loved them for the last time. But I couldn’t even open my mouth because I was drowning,” he told the Inquirer.

He said he knew the infant was already dead, but he fought hard to hold on to him to give him a decent burial.

“My wife and I waited a year to have a baby. I don’t understand why he had to die so soon,” he said.

Besides his wife and their son, Malbuerto said his wife’s parents, Alberto and Emelia Martinez, and his brother-in-law, Gilbert Martinez, also went missing during the onslaught of one of the strongest typhoons on record.

Unanswered questions

Trying to come to grips with the unimaginable tragedy that had befallen him, Malbuerto went to Mass at the ruined Santo Niño Parish Church on Sunday looking for answers to the questions running on his mind.

“I don’t understand why God had to take away my wife and my baby. They are my life. Now that they’re gone, my life means nothing,” he said.

Standing in front of the image of the crucified Jesus inside the church, which had its roof and windows blown off by the typhoon, Malbuerto cried uncontrollably as Msgr. Alex Opiñano tried to console the grief-stricken survivors in his homily.

“I’m not blaming God. I just asked why this had to happen. I’m not bad. I never forget to pray to Him,” Malbuerto said.

“Did I ask too much from Him? All I ever wanted was a happy family,” he said.

A day before Yolanda struck Tacloban, Malbuerto and his wife left their shanty and sought refuge in her parents’ two-story concrete house nearby.

Village officials had warned them that the typhoon might cause widespread flooding and devastation.

It did, and much more.

Strong house

Malbuerto said they all thought his in-laws’ house would be the safest place for them, as it stood on the highest part of the community located some 300 meters away from the shoreline.

The house had also held out against previous storms that battered that part of Leyte province facing the Pacific Ocean.

But it was no match for Yolanda’s deadly winds that whipped up storm surges as high as 7 meters.

Malbuerto, who was roused from sleep by the howling wind about 5 a.m., immediately instructed his wife and his in-laws to leave the house when it began shaking.

They were unaware that the seawater was rising fast and in a few minutes, it reached the second floor of the house.

“We had no other choice but to climb out the window. Before my wife could even reach for the window, two big waves smashed into the house and we were all swept away,” he said.

Malbuerto and his wife were able to cling to the wooden window of their neighbor’s house a few meters away, but his in-laws were nowhere in sight.

For two hours, he tried to save his baby and his wife, only to lose them to the furious waves.

“There was a time when I wanted to let go and die. But I told myself I had to live and find my loved ones. My wife could still be alive. I would look for my son and give him a decent burial,” he said.

Looking for them

Since the typhoon struck, Malbuerto had been spending his days walking around Tacloban looking for his wife and son.

He said he must have opened hundreds of body bags, unmindful of the stomach-revolting odor to peek into the faces of the rotting bodies inside.

“I’m planning to move with my relatives to Catbalogan City,” he said, wiping away his tears with his brown jacket. “But I will not leave Tacloban until I find my wife and our son.”

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