FOLLOWING the magnitude 6.9 offshore earthquake that hit northern Cebu, families are still struggling to cope with the emotional trauma and meet their daily needs.
A family of 19 members remains cramped inside a small makeshift tent on an open field in Barangay Tambongon, San Remigio, days after the earthquake.
Among them is Perla Perigo, a senior citizen, who recalled the terrifying night the quake hit.
Perigo said chaos erupted as the ground shook, leaving her separated from her children and grandchildren as she shouted their names in fear.
“I don’t care what will happen to me because I am already old. All I can think about is the future of my children and grandchildren,” Perigo said in Cebuano while crying.
Since the earthquake, Perigo said she continues to live in fear of aftershocks and struggles to sleep at night due to trauma. She often sits up while trying to rest, while her family curls up close together to fit inside the small tent.
Perigo added that she has been suffering from fevers and toothaches but still tries to collect relief goods along the streets, together with her grandchildren.
Perigo is one of the residents of the National Housing Authority (NHA) site in Purok Sikwa who have chosen to stay in open fields, fearing to return home while strong aftershocks continue.
Anxiety and despair
Eusabia Tagalog, 72, has been feeling nervous, often experiencing a blank or overwhelmed mind days after the earthquake. She recalled being trapped in her room during the quake, praying and trembling, asking God that if it was the end, she hoped to live to see her children again.
Tagalog, along with her 76-year-old fisherman husband whose livelihood has been disrupted by the quake, is among the affected victims residing in a makeshift tent in Tambongon.
She said her family has been unable to decide what their next steps should be.
“Di pa gyud mi ka desisyon tungod aning nerbiyos na mokalit lang kapamugnaw ug tubod ang singot. Di gyud ta kasabot. Wa pa gyud mi tarong na paminsar, samot na pud og uyogon napud,” said Tagalog.
Maria Erna Asingua, a mother of four who underwent surgery, shared that her youngest son, aged six, has been traumatized by the earthquake and frightened by the aftershocks. She recalled shielding her children as objects around their home shook, shouting through the aftershocks while her children cried. Asingua and her children, aged 14, 12, 10 and six, are also among the families staying in makeshift tents in Tambongon.
Mass wake for landslide victims
Eleven individuals, including a two-year-old child, were honored in a mass wake after losing their lives in the devastating earthquake that resulted in a landslide in the mountainous barangay of Binabag, Bogo City.
Six of the victims were members of the Malinao family, who perished in the landslide triggered by the tremor.
Joseph Malinao said massive rocks from a collapsing mountainside buried their homes and pinned his relatives with large boulders. His elder brother, 36, and sister-in-law, 37, were killed, along with their two children, aged eight and 11. Two other nephews, aged five and 10, also died in the tragedy.
Another mourning father, Silvestre Ytang, lost his 17-year-old daughter to the disaster after she tried to shield his wife and her two-month-old baby brother from the impact.
Ytang and his wife both suffered head injuries, while their daughter was hit by the foundation of their house, hitting her forehead on the ground.
He deeply regretted his daughter’s untimely death, recalling her potential and dreams as a Grade 11 senior high school student.
The 11 individuals are set to be buried on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at the Bogo Cemetery. / DPC / BRYCE KEN ABELLON, USJ-R INTERN