Vice President Sara Duterte recalled the story of a survivor, who was hoping to find her missing husband, she met while visiting the landslide victims in Davao de Oro last week.

Vice President Sara Duterte speaks to landslide survivor, Merafe, during her visit to Nueva Visayas Gymnasium in Davao de Oro. (Inday Sara Duterte/Facebook)

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Feb. 11, the official remembered meeting Merafe, a mother with her three children—the youngest being only eight months old—who were in the evacuation center while waiting for her missing husband.
 

“Ikinuwento niya sa akin ang kanilang naranasan sa nasabing trahedya at hindi niya napigilang umiyak dahil sa araw na iyon ay hindi pa nakikita ang kanyang asawa na isa sa mga trabahador at  pasahero ng bus na natabunan ng gumuhong lupa (She told me about their experience in the said tragedy and she wasn’t able to stop her tears because that day, her husband, who was one of the workers and passengers in the bus buried in the landslide, was yet to be found),” she wrote.
 

“Umaasa siya na mahanap na at nang makasama na nila ang kanilang padre de pamilya (She is hopeful that he could be found and they can be with their head of the family),” Duterte added.
 

The Vice President also shared photos of her meeting Merafe at the Nueva Visayas Gymnasium last Thursday, Feb. 8.
 

The gymnasium is the temporary shelter for evacuees of the landslide in Masara, Maco, Davao de Oro last week.
 

Duterte herself lamented the tragedy that happened to the residents, and asked the local government there to provide stress debriefing to the families, especially the children.
 

“Labis ko pong ikinalulungkot ang ganitong pangyayari kung saan makikita mo sa mga residente ang paghihinagpis at pangugulila sa kanilang mga mahal sa buhay na kasama sa gumuhong lupa (I am deeply saddened by these incidents where you will see the residents’ anguish and grief for their loved ones who were buried in the landslide),” she said.
 

“Kaya naman lagi kong pinapaalala sa aking mga kasamahan na nagsisilbi sa gobyerno na gawing prayoridad lagi ang kaligtasan ng mga mamamayan (That’s why I always remind our government workers to make the safety of the people their priority),” she added.
 

The Davao de Oro landslide buried two buses carrying workers of Apex Mining Co. Inc. Since the incident last Tuesday, the death toll has risen to 54, with 63 people missing.
 

The mining company attributed the landslide to the heavy rains that poured on Brgy. Masara in Maco in the last two weeks.
 

Davao Region, Northern Mindanao, Caraga, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have suffered from floods and rain-induced landslides in the past weeks due to the northeast monsoon and trough of low pressure area.