Drill strikes chord in girl who survived Bohol quake in 2013

By: Leo Udtohan - 8 years ago

October 13, 2014 Loay church after being heavily damaged by the October 15 earthquake that occured in the province 1 year ago. -- On October 15, 2013 at 8:12 am a 7.5 earthquake shook through the Bohol and Cebu province killing 222 people and leaving thousands of infrastructure damaged beyond repair. It was the deadliest earthquake in the Philippines in 23 years. Centuries old churches, some built since 1602 by Jesuit missionaries succumbed to the force of the earthquake and were destroyed beyond recognition. From the Church of San Pedro Apostol in Loboc, Church of Our Lady of Light in Loon, Santissima Trinidad Parish in Loay, Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in Baclayon, Our Lady of Assumption Church in Dauis, St. Isidore the Farmer Church in tubigon and Santa Cruz Church in Maribojoc. An outline on acetate showing the former structures of the churches were overlapped with new photographs taken a year after the devastation is shown here, a before and after look , of the iconic churches that once symbolised the soul of the community, and now evidence of nature's true power. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

In this October 13, 2014 photo, the Loay church stands after being heavily damaged by the October 15, 2013 earthquake.
On October 15, 2013 at 8:12 am, a 7.5 earthquake shook through the Bohol and Cebu province killing 222 people and destroying thousands of infrastructure. It was the deadliest earthquake in the Philippines in 23 years. Centuries old churches, some built since 1602 by Jesuit missionaries succumbed to the force of the earthquake. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol — The earthquake drill on Wednesday struck a chord in 11-year-old Marydil Anne Dano.

Dano, a Grade 6 pupil of Cogon Norte Elementary School in Loon town, recalled how they ran out of their house when the ground shook on Oct. 15, 2013.

“Dili ko kalimot adto nga linog (I could not forget that earthquake),” she said.

Her town, Loon, was one of the hardest-hit municipalities when a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit Bohol and killed at least 200 persons.

The tremor, the strongest to hit the province in recent years, destroyed houses and government infrastructures, toppled old-churches and injured 877 persons.

When an earthquake drill was held on Wednesday, Dano was among 368 pupils who learned how to “drop, cover and hold” before heading to an open space outside the school.

The drill at Cogon Norte Elementary School in Loon town began with the sound of the “kuratong,” an instrument made of bamboo that rang at 9:58 a.m.

Inocencia Reyes, a Grade 1 teacher, said the school revived the use of “kuratong” in times of emergencies like earthquake.

The earthquake drill was also held simultaneously in other schools and government offices in the province.

Kuratong was an indigenous tool traditionally used to call community members to assemble at village halls for meetings, alert people or call children home.

“In case if there is no electricity, we can use kuratong to alert our students since no one knows when an earthquake will happen,” she said.

John Lloyd Udtohan, a Grade 11 student of Dr. Cecilio Putong National High School (DCPNHS) in Tagbilaran City, said earthquake drills should be taken seriously.

“To be aware what will happen, what possible accidents and what I am going to do,” he said. SFM