TACLOBAN CITY-Its been six years now but families of those who perished when super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ pummeled this city continue to long and miss them.
And during the observance of the All Saints and All Souls Days, they visited the mass grave where those who died due to Yolanda were entombed.
Nine-year old Nathalia, who declined to give her family name, said that she misses her mother, among those who died when their village in Alimasag, San Jose district, was pummeled by the world’s strongest typhoon to hit inland on November 8,2013.
“I really miss my mother. I just wished she was still around so everything will be okay,’ she said.
Aside from her mother, also killed were her three sisters.
Juanito Martinez, 54, said that he never fail to visit the graveyard of his wife and children who were also buried at the mass grave located in Barangay Basper.
‘Visiting the mass grave has been part of our lives. I miss my wife and children. I still cry (for them),”he said.
Martinez lost his wife Gina and three children, Bernadeth,9; Ma. Riza,8; and Margarita,7 due to Yolanda.
He said that while he misses his wife and children, his only consolation was he and his six other children survived the onslaught of Yolanda.
“I am sad that this happened to our family but still I am asking my wife to help me heal and be strong for my children,” he said.
The mass grave is where more than 2,200 people were buried by the city government who died due to Yolanda.
(JAZMIN BONIFACIO)
