My story of 'firsts' in Saint Bernard

I went to the site where Filipino soldiers were work ing. I saw two men digging through and I was told later that they were looking for their wives and children. One of them even checked on the wedding ring of a dead woman that the soldiers had pulled out from the earth.

I noticed some of the rescuers at the site that day carried no equipment or tools, such as shovels, ropes and even a good ax to cut branches. I even overheard a soldier murmuring that some of these people (rescuers) were just there to be photographed by newsmen.

Rain and the "depressed" portions of the ground were hazards to the rescuers, a situation that also hampered the operations.

Similarly, the US Marines' Chinook helicopter and the heavy rains at Mount Can-abag endangered the rescuers and the media people there.

The US Marines, Malaysians, Taiwanese and Spanish rescuers were very effective however although their modern equipment failed to find the "big thing," the buried school where hundreds more were believed to be still alive. But their presence inspired local rescuers armed with crude tools only.

Back to the town proper, habal-habal fare reached the "dollar" level and food became more expensive than in Cebu City, such as the P50-price for a small slice of fish.

The continuous rain forced us to buy extra clothes and shorts including raincoats and boots. Potable water was not a problem though because there was plenty in the command post near the site.

Finding a story there to write was easy, and so many to choose from but our problem was on how to send it. Despite the free Internet, Wi-fi service of Smart Communications (the only available medium in town for such purpose), reporters had to wait for at least 30 minutes to get on one of the limited number of laptops.

Some reporters, even those from Manila, used the very laptop we have been using to e-mail our stories. And this made the matters worse for local reporters (wala silang pakialam sa amin).

Another option to send our reports was to "rush", over a two-hour trip, to Sogod town where a number of Internet cafes were available. But one had to catch the bus's last trip for the day at 4 p.m., or take a one-way habal-habal trip at a cost ranging from P400 to P500 each (like what happened to Paul twice) and go back to Saint Bernard the following day if you wish.

Raw information must be verified personally, as Paul and I learned later on. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, a colleague from a Cebu-based radio station called and informed us that 50 survivors were found.

Paul quickly left the house where we have been staying and took a habal-habal ride to the area amidst heavy rains. Hours passed and Paul sent me text message "no clear pa bay", which meant the news was a dud. At 1 a.m., Paul arrived dripping wet, saying he had a hard time getting a ride back to our place.

And then there was this "chicken story." Early in the morning, I received a call that a chicken was found alive from the site. Following our lessons, I verified the news from General Bonifacio Ramos, the over-all commander of the operation, and he confirmed it.

But later in the afternoon, when media people were asking where the "rescued" chicken was, the general quickly changed his story, telling reporters at a press briefing that the chicken wasn't from under the mudslide but from a coconut tree near the site.

Luckily, there was a Cebuano rescuer who stood pat on the "find", telling the media that Ramos wasn't there when they found it.

By Friday or a week since, Paul and I agreed we should go to the location of the school that the NDCC had been talking about. We took a habal-habal from the town proper to barangay Mag-atas, crossed a river by "foot bridge" and hiked an estimated two-kilometer distance to the spot above where the school was located before.

We did not see any sign of a school roof and saw only two backhoes digging through the ground. So we decided we should consider going back home to Cebu.

Digging for survivors has stopped in Saint Bernard. The local government, after almost two weeks of frantic digging and searching for survivors has finally accepted that no one could have survived the tragedy anymore.

While Saint Bernard is nursing its wounds and trying to stand up again, Paul and I, too are trying to recover from the shock, and yes, the excitement, of being there personally to witness the tragedy.