TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – Slowly, rain snuffed out the candles in the mass grave for Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) victims at around 6 pm on Sunday, November 2, as Filipinos end two days devoted to remembering the dead.

Many of them prayed for closure, almost a year after Yolanda ravaged eastern Visayas on November 8, 2013. Some even said sorry. They wished they could’ve done more to save their dead relatives.

Joven Navarro, 24, was among the last to light a candle in the mass grave before rain poured.

Navarro lit his candle not in front of a cross, but a tarpaulin that said this grave is for Tacloban residents who died in the most powerful typhoon to ever hit land in recorded history. (READ/WATCH: ‘Undas’ in Yolanda mass grave: ‘Pick your cross’)

There was no cross for his father, Navarro thought. We told him people picked random crosses in the mass grave, as the government still couldn’t pinpoint which body is buried where. Navarro, however, had no marker with him, so he had to make do with praying in front of the tarpaulin.

Up to 100 candles were lit there at around 6 pm. Beside the candles, there was also food – noodles, biscuits, packed lunch, and even red juice – offered to the dead as part of the custom of some Filipinos.

In front of these candles and other offerings, Navarro cried as he paused for a few minutes.

Praying for a job

He prayed for his father, who died during Yolanda. “Siya lang talaga ang naghahanapbuhay sa amin. Nagpapasalamat ako sa kanya,” he said. (He was our only breadwinner. I want to thank him.)

Navarro, who is jobless, prayed that he be employed.

He also apologized to his father, who wanted him to return to Tacloban before Yolanda unleashed its wrath. He was then in the nearby town of Palo. He could’ve saved his father if he went home, he said.

Quintin Bon Jason Bato, 21, also said sorry as he prayed for the dead.

Bato, whose grandmother was buried in the mass grave, said he regrets that he “wasn’t with them in their last hours.”

Aside from his grandmother, his grandfather and uncle died because of Yolanda. The two were cremated, while his grandmother was included in the mass grave even if her body was identified.

Bato added, “Kaya nga medyo nagagalit ang papa ko kasi na-identify [siya] pero sinama sa mass grave.” (That’s why my father is a bit angry because she was identified but was included in the mass grave.)

The Tacloban City government seeks “closure” for Yolanda survivors like Navarro and Bato, as the Philippines approaches the first year after Yolanda on Saturday, November 8.

Beside the Tacloban City Astrodome, the government is building a memorial wall to help its residents move on.

Its critics, however, point out that people cannot move on without the basics – houses and jobs.  – With reports from Franz Lopez/Rappler.com