SHIELA Marie Panilag was not in their house in Barangay Tinaan in the City of Naga when the killer landslide devoured their community on Thursday morning.
Although spared from imminent death, the 28-year-old could not rejoice. Because at least eight of her relatives have been confirmed to have died in the tragedy.
All eight casualties lived in the house owned by Panilag’s grandparents located just a few meters behind their own in Sitio Sindulan.
Photos of the houses before and after the monster landslide went viral online.
The first picture showed their house with a blue rooftop and that of her grandparents’ with a red-painted roof surrounded by trees about five to ten meters at the back.
In the second picture which was taken after the landslide that covered most of Sitio Sindulan, her grandparents house and nearby trees have disappeared, replaced by soil and debris.
“We saw the rubble ourselves. Truth be told, we have slight chances of finding them – a lot of them,” the 28-year-old said in a Facebook message to Cebu Daily News.
Among her dead relatives that were already retrieved by authorities were Lauro Campanilla, Lemuel Campanilla, 33; Jenessa Campanilla, 32; Vianca Versales, 19; Michael Versales, 16; Jazwel Campanilla, 8; Mark Laurence Campanilla, 3 and two baby girls from the same house.
Panilag said that on Thursday, they received a facebook message from Jenessa asking for help while they were trapped inside their buried house.
“Si Jenessa naka-text pa to. Iyahang mga anak kinugos nako,” Panilag said.
But yesterday, rescuers dug up Jenessa’s lifeless body.
Since she could no longer do anything to help the dead, Panilag vowed to do something to help alleviate the pains of those who survived the tragedy.
She decided to put up a fund raising campaign for the landslide survivors having witnessed their plight from seven evacuation centers in the city.
Panilag said that survivors mostly need food, water, clothes especially for children, toiletries and other sanitary products.
“As of the moment, the local government has given food and water to the families but soon enough, they will need more necessary supplies,” she said in her Facebook post.
For interested donors, Panilag can be directly contacted through her Facebook with a username Shiela Marie.
Meanwhile, those who want to donate may turn over their donations to the Capitol compound from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Cebu’s First District Rep. Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas Jr. also organized donation centers for those who wanted to extend help.
The centers are located at the Talisay City Command Center and at the University of the Visayas (UV) Main Campus.
Among the immediate needs are diapers, unused undergarments and used clothing, sanitary napkins and hygiene kits.