Remnants of Mount Pinatubo

July 1990. We were just dismissed by our Grade school teacher. Since it was still early to go home, I and some of my classmates decided to play “tag” at the back of Imelda Building (LCS). My seatmate was one of my close friends that time and we usually play together (mapa Chinese garter, ten twenty, jumping rope, etc…) She run after us. Some went further while I climbed the log post avoiding not to be caught. We were teasing each other when suddenly we heard commotion from our surrounding. I felt the post where I stood was like leaping that I almost fell. I thought someone went really mad and shook the post. I jumped on the ground and realized it was shaking as well. I sat down, saw children my age who were crying and screaming while others were running in different direction. I looked up and saw the building was swaying. This really made me nervous for I was asking myself why everything was trembling. I realized later I was also screaming.

I noticed an EPP teacher of Grade 5 and 6 was shouting and motioning the children to get down on their knees. I immediately stood up and run towards him. I clung to a wire that the teacher was also clutching, closed my eyes and bent my head. I was so afraid and thought it was the end of the world. Moments later when the ground went still I found myself held by a teacher who guided me and the other children to the oval (LCS ground). I saw my schoolmates who were mostly on the ground watching smoke of ashes going up the sky. The teachers summoned us to go home right away. It was getting dark that time and there was no electricity.

I do not recall how I arrived home and do not even remember if I had a companion, if my Mom fetched me or if I went with some friends. I just remember a lot of coconut fruit that fell off, scattered on the street and some fallen trees on the ground. When I reached home, my father was out of the house waiting for us (with my brother but I really cannot recall where was he that time.)

Whoa! After 17 years, I was able to visit the beautiful landscapes that the Mt. Pinatubo eruption left. However, behind this beauty reminded me of the catastrophic damages I heard and seen on TV news and reports. Many people died, injured, passengers were stranded on the roads due to fallen stones, debris, broken roads, a lot were trapped in the collapsed buildings, and houses were washed away in Central Luzon. Aside from the abysmal human impacts of the disaster, properties and the economy mostly of Central and Northern Luzon were damaged and disrupted.

..nanghingi muna kami ng prutas sa may tabi ng brgy.hall...hehehe... ..racing on the mud..mga koreans nakasakay dyan..

..dami nila actually..amazed sila kasi kami naglalakad lang.. ..ang ganda...

...koreans daw may ari nung parang hotel dyan.. ..super init grabe! si ate tess yung nakapayong..:) ..mga kaibigan naming aeta at ang guide namin.. ..maganda talaga yung mga landscape..

The remnants of Mount Pinatubo become a local and international tourist attraction. This helps the province and the people recover from the damages.