KILIKILIHAN. Renato Tianela, 40, was a garland vendor from Manila,
caught in a disaster at Kilikilihan, San Miguel,
Catanduanes. He lost his wife, Adelina, and their three
daughters, Irene, 15, Rissa, 13, and Ria, 10, in a landslide
that buried the house where they had sought shelter
from the deadly storm that hit the region in October.
‘We were staying at our parents’ house at the time
because we had come back to Catanduanes for a vacation.
Our permanent home was in Manila where we sell
Sampaguita* garlands for a living. While in San Miguel, I
decided to stay on for a while to see if I could work on a
small farm. I thought we could probably settle here and
just supply garland producers in Manila with abaca fibre,
used for making the string they need. My wife agreed she
could take the abaca to Manila while I would take care of
the fibre stripping on the farm. I started stripping abacas
on October 19, two days before that fateful day. Shortly
after five in the afternoon, we moved to my sister’s house,
because we thought our parents’ old wooden house would
collapse soon. When we reached the other house, we saw
that several of our other relatives had already gone there
too. By nine that night, there were 38 of us inside that
small house, half of them children. At around 9:30 my wife
and our daughters sat in one corner and tried to sleep
(nobody could lie down as it was both cramped and flooded),
while I stood nearby trying to rest my body on a wooden
beam. Than it happened. In a flash, I saw the roof just
above my wife and children collapse, burying all of them
with mud and reeds: a landslide. There was the crash of
the roof caving in, then silence. No moans or cries for help.
My family died instantly. I was going to pull them out
when the beam I was resting on fell and pinned my left
foot. That’s when I realised I had to get out before the
landslide engulfed everything. In panic, I ripped off one
of my toes trying to extricate my foot from under the beam.
I managed to get out before the whole building sank under
a mountain of mud and reeds. Outside, I saw another
survivor motioning at me and pointing towards his nephew
who was unable to pull himself out of waist-deep mud.
We tried to pull the young boy out. I couldn’t help crying
then. I raged at the thought that I wasn’t able to save my
family. I couldn’t let this boy die. I pulled with all my might
but we failed to pull him out. We later found that his feet
had been trapped by wood and reeds under the mud. The
boy died with his arms outstretched. Now I have practically
nothing. How could anyone possibly replace the four most
important people in my life? Those that gave all the
meaning to my existence? I’m just lost. I can’t sleep properly.
I gave away everything that reminds me of them but it’s
so hard not to think about them. In time, when my foot
heals, I’ll just go back in Manila and try to sell Sampaguita
garlands again. I can’t stay here in San Miguel. Since the
disaster, I have been surviving off food aid. There were
other things available from the Red Cross, from the
Department of Social Welfare and Development, but I
wasn’t really interested in taking them. The food was the
only thing I really wanted. It is still unclear to me what to
do with my life. Maybe God has other plans. His will be
done.’
*
The Sampaguita is the fragrant white national flower of the Philippines. Sampaguita garlands are used as necklaces in celebrations, or to welcome guests."I saw the roof just above my wife and children collapse, burying all of them with mud and reeds: a landslide. Then silence. My family died instantly"
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