Baguio City (CNN Philippines) – Survivors of the Luzon earthquake that struck on July 16, 1990, want to remind people that individual preparedness and presence of mind are important in surviving major catastrophes.
So some of them shared their memories of that day.
Pedrito Dy, a member of the kitchen staff and an assistant gym instructor of Hyatt Terraces Hotel, says he was about to go home when he was called by a bodybuilding teammate to pass by the hotel’s gym for a workout. He was inside the gym where he felt the shaking.
“Yung una hindi na kami makatakbo kasi parang nakasakay ka sa kabayo pagkatapos parang nilulundag ka. Nung lumabas ako ng gym ‘yun na nakikita ko na gumuguho na ang Hyatt,” he says.
Darkness soon engulfed him and his companions. At first, he said he was still able to stand but when aftershocks followed, he found himself on the floor with slabs of concrete and huge beams covering his body.
Dy was inside the building for 15 days, the longest time for a survivor there had to endure before being rescued.
Worse than the hunger and thirst, what he remembers most vividly are the dead bodies around him and the cries of other people suffering from their injuries.
“Sabi ko noon kay Lord, wag mo na po akong pahirapan, kunin mo na lang ako. ‘Yun yung time na siguro pinagbigyan niya ako na yung dapat sana yung dadagan sa akin na malaking bloke ng semento nag-stop at hindi ako nadaganan,” he says.
For days, he drank water seeping through cracked walls, without knowing if the water was clean.
In pitch dark, he waited, marking each day by a clock that he heard sounding at 6 p.m. and 12 p.m. Slowly, the cries of his companions buried deep into the rubble and concrete faded.
“Nagbibilin na sila isa-isa, una ang babae nung pangalawang araw, pagkatapos yung isang lalaki pagkatapos ng limang araw, na pag sino man ang makalabas sa amin, pupunta ng Cathedral para ipagdasal sila,” he recalls.
After about 10 days of continuous vomiting, he passed out. He only woke only when a fly whizzed by. A few minutes later, he heard sounds of people nearby.
He called out to his rescuers, a group of miners from Philex.
They found him at around 8:30 p.m. but managed to get him out of the piles of concrete rubble at around 4:30 a.m. the following day
They airlifted him to the Makati Medical Center where he stayed for nine days under treatment for extreme dehydration and foot and elbow injuries.
On his first day at the hospital, he felt that his companions, some 20 people who died based on what he can recall, were still with him.
That is the only trauma that he could recall of the earthquake.
Five days after recovering, he went home to Baguio. He left the city to work in Japan, where he stayed for three years.
Eventually, he decided to come home and start rebuilding his life with his wife Adela and his three kids, Peter Art, Pedrito Jr., and Len Angelina.
Some 25 years later after the earthquake that almost took his life, Dy, says he has moved on and recovered. The wounds caused by being trapped beneath tons of concrete have already healed.
But he says the lesson of preparing for the next Big One is a must for every Baguio resident.
Losing a limb, finding love
‘ ’43’: ‘image’: ‘jcr:5d1c60fb-aa28-4868-822a-93baccdbb5fb’ ‘imageCaption’: ‘Rafael Resuello (far left), with his family, also survived
Another earthquake survivor, Rafael Resuello has a different story to tell.
He lost a hand and forearm up to his elbow, but he found love among the ruins of the University of Baguio.
Resuello was then about to graduate from the University of Baguio. He was in class with 45 other students at the fourth floor of his college building – and there were about 500 other students elsewhere in school – when the earthquake hit.
“The first shake, okay lang. Parang hindi pa malakas. But after a few seconds na naging tuluy-tuloy na ang lakas, gusto na naming lumabas. Pero hindi na kami nakalabas natumba na lang kami at nadaganan ng kisame,” Resuello says.
Those who managed to get out of the classroom were killed in the corridors and stairs as the fifth and sixth floors of the building collapsed.
“Mainit at madilim. Kahit yung kausap mo kahit malapit lang akala mo malayo siya. Para kang sinabuyan ng semeneto na napaka-alikabok na hindi ka makahinga. Yung fluorescent light nasa ulo mo, yung mga upuan nabali,” he says.
He heard people screaming in pain.
After three hours, when it was already dark, help finally came. He joined in in shouting for attention.
A female classmate died beside him, while another, a woman named Mary Jane who later on become his wife, was trapped underneath the collapsed ceiling.
“At that time, continuous na ang agos ng dugo sa braso ko and parang nagging hopeless na rin ako. Akala ko mamatay na ako,” he says.
His left hand was covered in blood, and with his watch already puncturing his flesh, he barely had sensation left in his hand and fingers.
He was rescued and brought to the Saint Louis University Hospital. But he, along with other patients, had to stay at the hospital parking lot as aftershocks continued for the next three days.
“Meron nawala, pero considering na buhay ako, blessing pa rin,” he says, describing how he had to have an amputation.
A year after the quake, he had high hopes of finding work in Manila after graduation but this dream slowly disappeared because of his being an amputee.
But despite losing limb, he remains thankful of finding love, his fellow earthquake survivor, and with whom he now has two children.
Realizations after the quake
Both earthquake survivors feel fortunate to be alive and not be counted among the 1,600 people who perished in the earthquake.
Dy and Resuello also volunteer their time in educating people about earthquakes. Both donate blood regularly as a way of paying it forward .
Dy believes, however, that Baguio City is more prepared compared to 25 years ago when regular drills and safety of buildings were not given importance.
He said Baguio residents are very aware of earthquakes, adding it is important to prepare the next generation for the next Big One.
