Bereaved father asks for aid

VIDEO. Rakim Panarigan makes an appeal for education, as parents and teachers clean up Arabic school Ma’ahad Mandulog.

UPDATED 

MANILA, Philippines – 28-year-old Rakim Panarigan, who lost his family of eight to Tropical Storm Sendong, appeals for aid for neighbors and friends in Mandulog, Iligan City.

An irrigation worker, he asks for materials to rebuild schools and homes to help restore normalcy into their lives.

On December 16, close to midnight, Panarigan was awakened by torrential rains that sent him and his family packing. They headed for a neighbor’s house nearby because although it was close to the river, it stood on higher ground.

Little did he know that he would lose his family there as rampaging waters would hurl a log through the walls of the house.

Panarigan lost all five of his children in the floods. Only one body has been recovered.

Purok 17 in Mandulog, Iligan, once a community of homes and banana plantations, is now a desert. They counted 27 dead.

Temporary classrooms

Madrasah Ma’ahad Mandulog, that used to service 120 pupils, is being prepared for the opening of classes. The school is still standing, but it has lost doors, tables, windows and chairs.

Worst hit is the Mandulog Elementary Public School, a complete elementary school with 17 personnel and 406 students. It had 11 classrooms in five buildings washed out. 

Anonymous donors have donated funds for tents, armchairs, blackboards, school supplies, teachers’ tables, and teaching supplies.

The locals provided labor and materials taken from collapsed wood and coconuts. Building is yet to begin, as all government property are still considered danger zones.

School officials are hoping owners of private properties will offer use of land. They hope to have the temporary school up and running in time for the January 3 school opening. – Rappler.com

(Video by Kiri Dalena. Editing by Patricia Evaneglista.)