Thursday, June 14, 2007 School pledges help to injured worker
LEAVING behind his flower farm to work in an ongoing construction near his home proved unfortunate for a 32-year-old resident of Sitio Tak-an in Barangay Budlaan, Cebu City.
Victim Bernie Antolihao suffered broken ribs and bruises all over his body after he was buried alive when a wall of diorite soil collapsed on him yesterday morning.
He and seven others were digging a canal for the foundation of a riprap wall when the accident happened.
The riprap was being built supposedly to keep the freshly scraped side of a hill from sliding and burying newly built classrooms of Marie Ernestine School in Budlaan.
The annex building was built on the leveled side of the hill, which needed the riprap to secure the structure.
Antolihao was among those digging the ground for the one-meter deep canal when the soil suddenly fell on the workers.
“Kalit ra man to nahunlak ang yuta. Nanagan mi pero si Bernie natabunan gyud. Mga singko minutos pa namong kinawotay usa nakita iyang ulo (The soil just fell suddenly. We ran but Bernie got covered. It took us five minutes of digging before we saw his head again),” said Gumer Basay, 30.
Basay said they refrained from using shovels so as not to hit Bernie.
School security guard Rico Malinao said the incident happened around 10:24 a.m., and Bernie was dragged out an hour later yet.
Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (Eruf) volunteers arrived immediately at the school and gave Antolihao first aid before bringing him to North General Hospital in nearby Barangay Talamban.
Mao Dizon, Marie Ernestine external affairs vice president, said in a telephone interview that they will do what they can to help the laborer.
“Ang amo is we have to help kay trabahante namo siya, sa kaya ha. Pero, God willing, dili lang unta grabe iyang condition (We hope his condition isn’t serious),” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
He went to the hospital yesterday to assist the Antolihaos, who said they have no money to pay for the hospital bills.
Ernesto, Antolihao’s father, said three of his son’s ribs were broken. He also suffered a small crack on the bone on his left arm, cuts on the thighs and legs, and bruises on his back.
“Okay ra nang mga pangus-pangus maayo ra man na. Ang problema kanang gusok. Maglisod kuno siyag ginhawa (We aren’t too worried about the scrapes and bruises. But he says he’s having trouble breathing because of his rib injuries),” Ernesto said.
He added that Antolihao finds it difficult to speak too.
Ernesto said he was home when somebody came, calling him to rush to the school because his son figured in an accident.
He said that his son accepted the job to take time off from cultivating flowers during the dry spell.
“Mamombahay man gyud ni siya’g mangga ug nananom og buwak. Pero tungod sa ni-aging huwaw, wala na may tubig ibubo, nisulod siya’g labor sa eskuylahan (He takes care of some mango trees and cultivates flowers. But because of the dry spell, he tried working at the school construction site),” he said.
He pleaded for the school owners to take care of his son, who has worked in the school for three weeks with a P150 daily wage.
