Memorial unveiled in Leyte mass grave site

THE MEMORIAL for “Yolanda” victims in Tanauan, Leyte, has been described as a “surge of hope.” JOEY GABIETA/ INQUIRER VISAYAS

TANAUAN, Leyte—Municipal officials on Tuesday unveiled a memorial in a grassy mass grave site to remember residents who died when Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) smashed the town more than a year ago.

Mayor Pelagio Tecson Jr., described the structure as a “surge of hope” for the people during the blessing ceremony at the main road junction of Barangay Calogcog.

“Before, this was just a place where we have buried our parents and our elder sister. [There is ] nothing but grasses. Now, there is a landscape and a monument giving them honor,” said Joan Alamo, 16, who came with her sister Jonalyn, 15.

Alamo’s father Jose, 57, mother Lorna, 50, and sister Josephine, 26, died inside their house in Calogcog when it was hit by a storm surge generated by Yolanda on Nov. 8, 2013. They now have a “beautiful resting place,” Joan said.

At least 1,384 residents who died during the typhoon were buried in two mass graves, including more than 200 in Calogcog and nearby Santa Cruz town. The other grave site is at the town center.

The Alamo sisters, together with an elder sister, Jocelyn, now live with an aunt in the same village more than a kilometer away from the town center.

The memorial is more than 60 feet long—a distance covering the width of the mass grave—and consists of cement statues in human form.

Rey Mudjahid “Kublai” Millan, who was commissioned to do the project, said the main structures consist of two spiral curves measuring 14 feet—the estimated height of the storm surge that pummeled the town. On the left are abstracts of aid workers and volunteers while on the right side are similar figures depicting the survivors.

In the center is a mass of figures, building upon and holding on to each other, and releasing a flock of birds to the sky with a rainbow and more birds on top. The names of the fatalities are engraved in a glass panel mounted in an artificial waterfalls.

Construction was started in September last year but was hampered by bad weather and completed only this month. The project was funded by Smart Communications and Granix Distributions Inc. of Procter and Gamble.

Maria Jean Paredes, Smart vice president for the Visayas and Mindanao, said the memorial would not serve only those who died during the storm but also as a symbol on how the people of Tanauan rise after the tragedy.

“This is so meaningful for all of us. This symbolizes the strength of the people of Tanauan and the bayanihan of different organizations that come in our way,” Mayor Tecson said.

Julian Modesto, barangay chair, said it would “also become a very relevant tourist spot.”