LEONARDA “Gaga” Pañares was supposed to celebrate her 60th birthday at home in Sitio Sindulan, Barangay Tina-an, City of Naga, Cebu with her four children and six grandchildren yesterday.
That well-planned celebration never happened after she woke up to the ground shaking and the sound of rumbling as the landslide wrought havoc on her neighborhood with the rubble stopping short a few meters from her house early morning last Thursday.
“I shouted at my children who lived next door so they’d wake up and then we all ran because the ground was moving really fast,” she said in Cebuano.
Although Pañares turned 60 last Wednesday yet, they had agreed to hold the celebration during the weekend.
Her children wanted to throw her a small party because Pañares is now a senior citizen.
Instead of entertaining at home, an emotional Pañares blew the candle on her cake surrounded by her family members inside the Enan Chiong Activity Center.
The gym was converted into an evacuation center for families from five sitios located near the landslide site.
Despite their current situation, Pañares said they chose to continue the little celebration because the cake had already been ordered, and it would make her grandchildren happy.
“Dako lang pud akong pasalamat nga luwas mi. Mao na nga naa gihapon mi rason para mag-celebrate (I have so much to be thankful for that we are all safe, so we had a reason to celebrate),” she said. RVC