TACLOBAN CITY- Losing five of children would not deter him to live and struggle for the sake of his wife and two other children who survived during the supertyphoon Yolanda.
Thus said Bonifacio Mabag, who said that while he still deeply mourn with the tragic death of his five children, he has to steel himself for his wife and children.
The 45-year old father said that he has to remain focus to continue to provide the needs of his family.
In his words, he has to work so that his family would not die due to hunger.
At the time Yolanda slammed this city on November 8, his wife Lorna was pregnant but has now delivered what was supposed to be their eight children.
Five of their children perished when their house at Costa Brava in San Jose was destroyed by the storm surge generated by Yolanda, the strongest typhoon to ever make a landfall in the world.
“I fight (to survive) and I am fighting for my three young children; that they would not die due to hunger,” Mabag said.
Since then he tried to live as normal as possible by returning to his old source of income-as a driver of a “pedicab” (a bicycle with a sidecar).
Mabag, standing among the twisted wreckage of his home while he was being interviewed by Leyte Samar Daily Express, could not contain himself as he was on the verge of crying as he was narrating their ordeal.
He said that on that day, they were inside their house when strong winds and the water surge generated by Yolanda hit their house, totally destroying it.
The wall of water reaching up to more than 20 feet caused them to separate from another.
“We thought we’d die. Corrugated sheets and debris started slamming on us,”Mabag, who was able to get hold on a log, said.
“I lost consciousness. I tried to look for my wife and children but I know they are just here somewhere,” fighting back tears, Mabag told Leyte Samar Daily Express.
He searched for his wife and children, finding them after two days of excruciating searched in San Jose area, considered to be the hardest-hit area in terms of lives loss.
“My heart goes to the parents who are still searching their missing children up to now,” Mabag said.
Despite of the massive tragedy that his family experienced, they remain thankful to the Lord for giving them new lease of life.
By: JAZMIN BONIFACIO
