Reflection on Bohol and Cebu Earthquake

(7^th Installment to My 500 Word Day)

by

Ric F. Maulion

            “Challenging your faith!” This  was the answer I received after I wrote a short article sharing my reflection on that tragedy I posted in one FB Group Page. Yes, I can’t help but agree. A brief throwback will do.

            Actually, our batch of Dept. Agrarian Reform Employees from North Bukidnon was a recipient of  one week study tour to Bohol and Cebu as an incentive for having as usual maintained the delivery of our Land Tenure Improvement (LTI) 2013 target specifically numbers of hectares of  lands acquired and distributed for that year.

  So on we went to Bohol on August 13, 2013 and later Cebu for our second stop. This after three days tour from their vibrant Tourism Industry involving visits of important historical landmarks, churches and lunch at an impressive Loboc floating restaurant. Trip all the way to famous thousands of amazing Chocolate Hills at Carmen and visit to Tarsier’s Sanctuary, Bohol’s pride and symbol came next.

We proceeded to Cebu, our second tour leg three days later. Unfortunately, there was not much fun in Cebu compare to what we got from Bohol. Our tour coordinator just didn’t  give damn leaving us just hanging around on our own. Here I sorely missed my motorcycle I earlier intended to use to help me get around the City.  Revisiting Sto. Niño where Magellan’s cross has been preserved was all I could managed to do. Proceeding to Metropolitan Cathedral nearby later thinking of meeting Archbishop Joe Palma, an erstwhile mentor at St. Joseph Regional Seminary, Jaro, Iloilo City and past Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president now assigned at Cebu Diocese as Prince of Peace Archbishop followed. But we didn’t met. He was not there. This time I had my digicam ready and took many pictures more from the inside than the outside one after the other.  After one night stop over from a relative, I went back home to Cagayan de Oro via newly opened Laguindingan International Airport taking roughly 30 minutes flight from Mactan, Cebu.

That was way back then until I have those beautiful relevant pictures taken during that tour posted in my timeline on October 15. The time registered on my computer was 8:14 AM I think Monday, for it was Muslim official holiday. And what a consequence! Both island visited were hit by 7.2 magnitude earthquake according to US Geological survey. An initial aftershocks of  137 was recorded, one among them reaching Cagayan de Oro City registering 4.3 magnitude I think just few minutes after the tremors from Bohol. And here’s the catch, the aftershock happened while I was  exactly uploading those beautiful scenes of  Churches – Dauis, Loboc, Baclayon and Metropolitan Cebu Cathedral its beautiful belfry crushing to the ground earlier -  .  Harbinger of  catastrophe, was naturally one of the thought running on mind. For who could ever thought that the  ugly consequence like Damocles’ bladed hanging in the air waiting for the cue to drop was there.

 No and never because you just can’t predict earthquake as validated by people from PAG-ASA. One hundred seventy people were registered initially dead. Tourists attraction churches and majestic belfries notably those of Loboc, Baclayon, Dauis, Loon, Clarin, Panglao where we had the last stop and many others  crumbled. The culprit – they were mostly  made of  lime stones and there were no rebars! More than 3,000 houses  were also damaged in Antiquerra alone.

 It was earlier approximated that epicenter of the earthquake was at 2 kms Southest of Carmen, Bohol, home of famous thousands Chocolate Hills. Fault line was determined however later at Inabangga  triggering  the tremor forty five kilometers away to Maribojoc passing ten towns.

 The damage was huge. It was just like 32 Atomic Heroshima Bombs unleashing energy equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT triggering  the strongest quake in Visayas in 23 years creating 33 kms depth of the tectonic tremor, says Dir. Renato Solidum. I do agree because Dir. Solidum, my kababayan actually hails from Odiongan, Romblon and a loyal member of a choir under me has credibility having graduated from premier University of the Philippines major in Geology. The bell tower too at Basilica of the Holy Child in Cebu was damaged. Liquefaction too creating 200 meters sink hole  happened at Lapulapu.

           

Good at least that this incident happened (but why wait!) before sounding the alarms of revisiting the 2010 Building Code replacing the outmoded 1990 Building Code. For Church authority, a welcome development of learning from the errors of the past – structures not engineered, malpractice of plastering etc. Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro was one among those who responded commanding thorough inspection of Churches in his Diocese. Hope mine at Romblon where churches are also like those of Bohol would follow suit as we don’t have  the capacity of predicting an  earthquake. Yes, my province is situated at the path of typhoon belt area. And we’ve been used to it. But vigilance and preparedness should still be the first order of the day as super typhoon more than  the power lately exhibited by Yolanda of 2013 that struck Leyte and Samar are already monitored this early. Move to the mountains when time comes. Let’s not play with words associating storm surge to Tsunami or we too would  soon be gone while we are even debating it.