Landslide-hit village in Abuyog narrates harrowing fate; says no plans to return to the barangay
ABUYOG, Leyte- After multiple landslide incidents that hit Baybay City that resulted in the death of 116 people, a similar incident also hit this town burying an entire coastal village located at a foot of a mountain.
Prior to the landslide, more than 30 villages of the town were submerged in floodwater on April 11 but as the water receded, three landslide incidents happened in the municipality, resulting in the death of several residents.
Of the villages hit, Barangay Pilar was the worst hit, just close to four months after it also suffered the wrath of typhoon ‘Odette’ last December that affected almost all of its more than 400 residents.
Daisy Mae Villaroel and his common-law-husband, Junrel Palima, described what happened to their family when the landslide hit Pilar in the afternoon of April 12.
They were staying in a house of a relative as their house was totally damaged when typhoon ‘Odette’ hit Abuyog last December.
Among those who died due to the landslide was the couple’s son, Zaryl Dae, 2.
“Bahala ngani ug nay iba nga nangasamad basta ang ilang anak safe. Bahalag ako masamdan basta safe ang akong anak, pero wala kuy mahimu,” Villaroel said.
Villaroel said that people went into panic to run to safety but no matter how fast they could run, it was unmatched by the speed of the ranging waves rushing toward their community.
After the water receded, a relative saw their son, with a rope tangled at his neck, already dead, she said.
The news about his son’s death was so devastating, Junrel, who was on his way home from Baybay City when the tragedy struck their village.
The dejected father said that if he was only present that time, maybe his son could have been saved.
“Di ko nagdahum nga, murag na kuwan ko ba, akung gi kuwan ang akung kaugalingon, wa ko sa akung pamilya…wala ko makatabang… murag ma safety pa man siguro tu kung diha pa ko atu,” he said.
Losing their home and now their son, the couple said that they have no plan of ever returning to Pilar.
Santiago Dahunog was at the house of his elder brother when the landslide happened along with his younger brother and two nephews.
Before the big wave hits their community, they heard a large sound similar to an explosion. Then they saw big waves rushing to their community.
“Wala na, hindi ko na nga kuwan kung makaligtas pa ako, hindi ko na alam kay nabaun na sa lupa, lampas tuhod na lupa, tapos na nagapos ang aking kamot pagkuwan sa tubig kay ninhumok na ang lupa nangusog ko para makuwan ko ang pisi mau nga nakalutaw ko, pagkalutaw ko gitangtang ko ang pisi sa akong kamot mao na nga nidagsa na ko sa daplin,” Dahunog narrated.
After the water receded, Dahunog said that he can no longer find his two brothers and nephews, no matter how he searched for them.
But later it was learned that his brothers and nephews were found but already dead.
“Masakit,” this was his only reply when asked how he feels learning that his relatives are already dead.
His sister-in-law Emilita Dahunog cannot stop crying at the sad news that her husband and two children died in the landslide.
Emilita said that prior to the landslide, her family evacuated to a higher ground identified as ean vacuation site for the village.
But her husband, Reynaldo and children Jerson,26, and Jomar,27, went back to the village to check their motorboat.
“Didtu na sila sa igbaw, pero ning lugsong pa man ang akung asawa ug anak kay panginanuon kuno ang sakayan namun,” Emilita shares.
“Kasakit, wan a mi lami ig kaun, wan a tu’og. Kalaina sa lawas. Bahala nag wala na sakayan basta buhi lang mga anak ko ug bana,” Emilita said while crying.
With this sad experience and their community washed out by the disaster, Emilita and her brother-in-law Santiago said that their family will no longer return to Pilar.
At least 48 residents of the village have been confirmed to have died due to the landslide.
Search, retrieval, and recovery operation is still on-going to find the remaining 55 missing residents.
Mayor Lemuel Gin Traya said that operations are mainly focused on water and shoreline because of the unstable soil condition at the landslide site.
Abuyog mayor mulls declaring a ‘no man’s land’ landslide-hit village that killed several of its residents
ABUYOG, Leyte- The mayor of this town where an entire village was almost entombed by a landslide due to tropical depression ‘Agaton,’ said that he is considering of prohibiting the affected village be declared as no longer fit for habitation
Mayor Lemuel Gin Traya said that he will invite geologists from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to conduct an inspection in Barangay Pilar if it’s still suitable for occupancy.
Traya admitted that the area has been declared as a danger zone due to possible landslide back in 2018.
But what happened on April 12 at around 4 pm was a first time occurrence, the town mayor added.
“We were advised that it was a hazardous area but the people there find it difficult to relocate due mainly of their livelihood,” Traya said. The villagers mostly rely on fishing as their source of livelihood.
And due to the massive landslide incident,” we will request geologists to conduct an inspection to see if the area is still safe to live.’
For one, the town mayor said that they will be constructing bunkhouses as temporary shelter for the affected families in Pilar immediately considering that these evacuees could stay at the evacuation centers at least for three months.
The temporary shelters of these families will be located at the three-hectare lot owned by the family of the mayor in Barangay Tinale.
Pilar has 478 residents of which 48 have been confirmed to have died, which include village chairwoman Adelaida Rosquites whose dead body was only found last Thursday.
At least 55 Pilar residents are still being considered as missing with retrieval operation ongoing which include of searching along shoreline up to portion of Southern Leyte province.
“At least 95% of Pilar has been destroyed,” he said.
Aside from Pilar, the villages of Tib-o, Bahay and Combis have reported of death. Tib-o has two fatalities with the two villages have confirmed one each.
Meantime, in Baybay City, the worst hit area in Leyte due to the multiple landslides brought by Agaton has now risen to 116 as of Sunday afternoon.
Based on the records of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, the 116 deaths were from Mailhi,22; Kantagnos,55; Bunga,18; Maypatag,2; Pangasugan,2; Candadam,1; San Agustin,1; Zone 21,1; Hicgop,1; Can-ipa,5; Igang,1; Palhi,2; Sto. Rosario,1; Gacat,1; and Inopacan,1.
Search and retrieval operations to continue
(Photo 802nd Infantry Brigade)
Col. Noel Vestuir, the commanding officer of the 802nd Infantry Brigade whose group of soldiers are part of the SRR along with other government security forces, said that they will continue their operations until they are ordered not to do so.
“As long as there is no order for us to stop, the AFP will continue its SRR,” Vestuir said in an interview.
“People still continue to hope that their loved ones could still be accounted for,” he added.
It was learned that the SRR group has employed K9 dogs to help them find bodies entombed by the avalanche.
Aside from the soldiers, also helping the SRR are police and members of the Bureau of Fire Protection aside from the personnel of the areas’ disaster risk reduction management offices.
On Monday morning, Vestuir said that they have found three dead bodies in Barangay Kantagnos, which appeared to be the worst-hit village in Baybay. This raised to 58 of its fatalities.
The city, in all, has now 118 fatalities with 70 missing individuals.
Vestuir said that his men are still in the villages which suffered landslide incidents due to the heavy rains dumped by tropical depression ‘Agaton’ that hit the city on April 10.
The Army officer, however, said that while they are carrying out their works, they also consider the safety of his men as the landslide-hit villages like Kantagnos remain to be hazardous.
He disclosed that a team from the Department of Health and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau went to Kantagnos to assess its condition as its safety and health.
Meantime, Abuyog Mayor Lemuel Gin Traya said that he will ask for the opinions of medical experts as to when the retrieval operations in Pilar will be called off.
“I will wait for the advice from our medical experts as to when we can stop our retrieval operations. But right now, we are focusing in our efforts in combing the coasts of Abuyog and (even) along Southern Leyte,” he said.
He stressed that considering of the current condition of Pilar, which was practically entombed by mud, boulders, and fallen trees, the rescuers are finding some difficulties in their operations.
So far, 48 residents of the village have been confirmed to have died with still 55 remain missing.
Banac deploys 100 cops to ‘Agaton’ hit areas
These police personnel will be deployed mostly in Leyte’s hard-hit areas like Abuyog and Baybay City, considered as the ‘ground zero’ of the typhoon marked with deadly flooding and landslide incidents that killed several villagers.
Among the worst-hit villages of the city were Gaas, Villa Soledad, Kan-ipa, Kantagnos, Punta, Santa Cruz, Mailhi, Bobon, Gakat, and Maypatag which were mostly hit by the deadly mud and boulder slides.
Aside from the local and police, helping the search and retrieval operations are soldiers belonging to the 802nd Infantry Brigade headed by Col. Noel Vestuir.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the regional PNP reported of 181 evacuation centers are occupied by 1, 515 families or 5, 703 individuals in the city.
Aside from the reported deaths in Baybay City, the PRO8 also recorded one casualty due to drowning from Barangay Caranas, Motiong, Samar, identified as Jesus Abanes, 74.
At least 138 individuals were also rescued by the PNP from four rescue operations they conducted.
Police personnel in Eastern Visayas also conducted clearing operations and relief distributions. (ROEL T. AMAZONA