By Nora Soriño
Iligan City Bureau Chief
Iligan City — Although other areas in Mindanao that have experienced the fury of tropical storm Sendong, mark Dec. 16 as its anniversary, this city has Dec. 17, as the day when the tropical storm was at its deadliest.
It was past 12:00 midnight, six years ago, when people here either walked or swam or ran for dear lives as rampaging waters caught most of them flatfooted.
A mass was offered on Sunday morning near the site of the Memorial Wall at Bayug Island, Barangay Hinaplanon where the toll due to that storm was highest.
Names of victims there are written in the wall which is part of the P1 million funding donated by Sen, Cynthia Villar. Relatives of surviving victims went there to hear mass and light candles in the area.
Others went to the mass grave in Barangay Pugaan to say some prayers and light candles there while others went to other cemeteries to mark the passing of their loved ones. Some of the victims buried on the mass grave could no longer be identified and DNA testing on relatives were made in an effort to identify them. But even then, still there were many of the victims who could not be identified.
To note, some surviving relatives of those who have perished in that deadly tropical storm were not able to claim some benefits due them as some were missing and until now, could not be found. On Sunday, some of them called local radio to give them insights on how to go about their claims as they could not produce certificates of death until now.
To recall Sendong sent more than a thousand to their watery graves and 6,000 more were injured, with this city and Cagayan de Oro suffering the most.
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