Bohol quake survivors: From cheating death to lunch with Pope

A young man lost four of his kin after their house was swallowed in a sinkhole that appeared after the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that rocked Bohol in October 2013.

A mother of two children miraculously recovered from her massive head injuries when physicians almost gave up on her.

Two women each lost a limb after being buried in the rubble. Another woman lost her 12-year-old son.

But more than a year after their ordeal, these five individuals have been blessed with a rare opportunity: sharing lunch with Pope Francis.

On Jan. 16, Saturnino Barace Jr., 19; Veneranda Gentallan, 38; Shirley Bongay, 28; Salome Israel, 24; and Niza Flores, 53, will leave for Palo town in Leyte, in time for the luncheon with the Supreme Pontiff on Jan. 17 and 25 survivors of supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) at the Archbishop’s Residence.

The five were surprised and touched by their selection among thousands of families affected by the earthquake that killed 201 people and displaced more than 95,000 families on Oct. 15, 2013.

“I thought I was not worthy to go and have lunch with the Pope because I am poor. What would I wear?” asked Gentallan of Maribojoc town.

“Pero dili diay sakto akong pagtuo. Ang Santo Papa gimahal kaming mga pobre.”( But I was wrong in my belief. The Pope loves us who are poor), Gentallan told the Inquirer.

Gentallan was given a new lease on life after she recovered from multiple bone fractures in her body, a crack on her skull  and a broken jaw that sent her to a hospital in Cebu City where she was confined for a month.

Prayers also saved Bongay who lost her right arm after she was pinned down for eight hours underneath the rubble of what used to be their house in barangay Lintuan, Loon town.

“I repeatedly prayed the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary. I really thought it was my end. If it weren’t for the prayers, I would have been dead by now,” she told the Inquirer.

Bongay, a pharmacist, said losing an arm, at first, made her feel incomplete but she managed to get through by keeping herself busy with work at a local pharmacy.

Barace, a first-year pre-college seminary student at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Taloto District, Tagbilaran, said the tragedy led him to his priestly calling.

The 19-year-old man from barangay Obujan in Antequera town lost his father Saturnino, mother Emiliana, sister Elizabeth, and his 5-year-old niece Shame Jyle after their house was swallowed by a sinkhole that appeared after the earthquake.

Barace said he was buried neck-deep in limestone and thought he was going to die.

Eight hours later, his neighbors pulled him out.

Barace entered the seminary in June 2014 because he wanted to spend the rest of his life with God who saved him.

“Gitawag ko sa bokasyon kay nabuhi pa man ko (I was called to this vocation since I was given another chance to live),” he told the Inquirer.

For Israel and Flores, their ordeal had a purpose.

Israel believed that she survived because “God has a plan for me.”

Israel lost her right arm and injured her pelvis when the wall of her house in Barangay Pooc Oriental, Tubigon town collapsed and fell on her. She spent one month at the hospital.

“He (God) taught me that there is still a lot to be thankful for despite losing my right arm,” she said.

Flores, of Barangay Poblacion in Sagbayan town, still mourned the loss of her youngest son, Geevie, 12.

Geevie was inside an Internet café when the earthquake struck. He died along with four others.

“Dili man kita ang tag-iya niya. Nagpasalamat ko nga gipahuwam siya sa amoa ug dose ka tuig (We don’t own our lives. I am thankful that God allowed me to borrow my son for 12 years).”

But she added she still misses Geevie whom she described as a mama’s boy.

Now that they have been given a chance to meet the Pontiff, is there something they want to ask from Pope Francis?

Barace said he would ask the Pontiff to pray for him and his relatives so they would be healed.

But he planned to hug the Pope during their meeting.

Asked what he was going to wear, Barace said he planned to be in ordinary clothes because the Pope is  known for his simplicity.

He said meeting the Pope would encourage him to do better and become a priest.

Gentallan plans to thank Pope Francis for taking time to eat lunch with them while Israel wants to tell the Pontiff what happened to her and how she managed to survive.

She also plans to give the pope a 41-page letter that contains her hopes and prayers for her family.

At the time of this interview, Gentallan admitted that she did not know what to wear during her meeting with the Pope as she is still looking for an outfit that would fit the occasion.

Israel would like to take several “selfie” photos with the pope in her “Sunday best”.

“I will take many pictures together with him and I will post them on Facebook so my friends and relatives could see them,” she said.

Flores confessed that she has yet to find a Filipiniana dress to wear for the occasion.

She said she would ask the pope to pray for her son’s soul and for them to be spared from calamities.

Flores said she considered meeting Pope Francis a gift of healing for a mother who lost her son.