Survivors of Guinsaugon, 9 years after the landslide

It has been 9 years since a tragic landslide killed more than a thousand people in the town of Saint Bernard, Leyte. Now, people are picking up the pieces.

David Lozada reports.

DAVID LOZADA, REPORTING: This is Barangay Guinsaugon in the town of Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte, 9 years after the tragic landslide that killed almost 1,500 people living in this community. In 2006, a portion of that mountain crumbled due to soil erosion, continuous rains, and an earthquake. The rubble burried farms, houses, and a school.

When the landslide hit, Joan Koquilla thought it was the end of the world. The 29-year-old was working as a helper in Manila when she lost her entire family to the tragedy.

JOAN KOQUILLA, GUINSAUGON ORPHAN: Sobrang hirap kasi noong nangyari parang mabigat sa dibdib noong nalaman ko na wala na silang lahat. Mabigat sa dibdib. Hindi ko maexplain kung gaano kasakit yung nangyari.

(It was so difficult back then. I felt like my heart was exploding when I heard what happened. My grief was beyond words.)

Joan is one of the 56 orphans of the Guinsaugon landslide who received support from non-governmental organizations so they can stay in school. 
She was able to get a college degree.
While some orphans didn’t get college degrees despite the financial support, most of them were able to secure jobs after graduation.
Natividad Pia has seen the success and failures of the orphans. 
The only teacher from Guinsaugon National High School who survived the landslide, she served as the coordinator for the orphans and donor agencies.

NATIVIDAD PIA, GUINSAUGON SURVIVOR: At present, lahat sila tapos na sa pag-eskuwela. Nakatapos na sila ng kurso, iba high school lang, at ang iba sa kanila ay nagtatrabaho na sa ibang bansa.

(At present, all orphans are done with school. Some finished only until high school, while some got college degrees. A few of them are now working abroad.)

Some orphans and survivors of the landslide now live in New Guinsaugon, located some kilometers from the landslide site. Though they have concrete homes and stronger infrastructures, most residents like Joan and Natividad struggle to raise their families.

NATIVIDAD PIA, GUINSAUGON SURVIVOR: Most of us are in the line of poverty since wala kaming matataniman dito sa new relocation site. Ang farmers dito sa New Guinsaugon bumabalik sa Old Guinsaugon para maka-till sa soil doon, para makapagtanim ng palay. We have already been harvesting rice for the past 3 years in Guinsaugon.

(Most of us are living below the poverty line because all we know is farming and there are no fertile lands nearby. Our farmers go back to Old Guinsaugon to till the soil. We have already been harvesting rice there for the past 3 years.)

Many of the survivors have moved on from the tragic landslide.
Orphans are now parents, farmers have long gone back to the rice fields, and the local government has improved its disaster management system. 
But survivors now face a different struggle. 
As they remember their loved ones buried in the rubble, they also continue to find ways to rise from poverty.

David Lozada/ Rappler Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte