PHILIPPINES/FILE: Traces of destruction left by Mount Pinatubo's eruption 20 years ago still haunt villagers in northern province of Pampanga

Record ID: 791992

  • Title: PHILIPPINES/FILE: Traces of destruction left by Mount Pinatubo's eruption 20 years ago still haunt villagers in northern province of Pampanga
  • Date: 18th June 2011
  • Summary: MADAPDAP VILLAGE, PAMPANGA PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES (JUNE 15, 2011) (REUTERS) CHILDREN PLAYING IN PARK MORE OF CHILDREN PLAYING IN PARK NABUCLOD RESETTLEMENT AREA, PAMPANGA PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES (JUNE 16, 2011) (REUTERS) AETAS LINING UP MORE OF AETAS LINING UP PAMPANGA GOVERNOR LILIA PINEDA DISTRIBUTING GOODS TO AETAS (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) PAMPANGA GOVERNOR LILIA PINEDA SAYING: "We still have problems with our river since everything is still silted. When there's a calamity like a strong typhoon, the water gets stuck. It doesn't go downstream to Manila bay since the river is silted."
  • Embargoed: 3rd July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Philippines
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: Disasters,Environment,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVA9M3G1I0VR8C7BA2T4FYJBZSGI
  • Story Text: Twenty years after Mount Pinatubo's massive eruption killed hundreds and displaced thousands of in the northern Philippines, survivors are still struggling to cope with the devastation.
    The Mount Pinatubo eruption in June 1991 was the second largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century, with over 5 billion cubic meters of ash released and reaching 34 kilometres (21 miles) high in the atmosphere.
    Volcanic material raced down the slopes at great speeds, engulfing whole villages in its path, burying homes and killing hundreds.
    Global temperatures dropped by 0.5 degrees Celsius for two years after millions of tonnes of sulfur dioxide ejected from the eruption blocked the sunlight and cooled the earth.
    Two decades on, traces of the eruption's aftermath are still evident in Cabalantian Village, one of hardest hit areas in Pampanga province, with houses buried 20 feet in lahar or hardened ash.
    Now, roofs from the buried houses can still be seen protruding on the elevated ground, while a half-buried church once used for Sunday worship is cordoned off due to possible collapse.
    The village, located around 85 kilometres (53 miles) north of Manila, was hit by debris during Mount Pinatubo's eruption, that climaxed on June 15, 1991.
    Years after the eruption, the threat of the volcanic materials remain. In 1995, the village was completely buried when a typhoon turned the volcanic sediments into mud flow, killing hundreds of people.
    Corazon Zawal lost loved ones during the typhoon. She managed to save herself and her family when they climbed on top of their house a few minutes before the lahar ravaged the village, but the current was so strong it swept away her four-year-old niece and one-year-old grandchild when a drifting house suddenly crashed against their home.
    Zawal and her family moved back to their old village and built a small house directly on top of their old one in Cabalantian, praying that such disasters would never happen again.
    But memories of the devastation remain etched in her mind.
    "In a blink of an eye, lahar was there. My older brother smashed our walls so that we could climb up to our roof. What we saw outside was everything, even houses, being whisked away by the flood. I called on my children to see if they were safe, when some of them didn't answer, I know they were gone," Zawal said.
    Following the volcano disaster, the local government relocated affected families to other parts of Pampanga, and large dikes were constructed years later to protect villages from further damage.
    Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda admitted that the province has yet to completely recover from the damage of Pinatubo, facing difficulties in removing tonnes of sediment deposits in 18 villages .
    "We still have problems with our river since everything is still silted. When there's a calamity like a strong typhoon, the water gets stuck. It doesn't go downstream to Manila bay since the river is silted," Pineda said.
    But the lahar turned out to be useful, and the sediments being removed from the towns and riverbanks are being sold as materials for construction or art.
    Pineda says the funds generated by the sale of the lahar are used for rehabilitating the province and development projects for an indigenous tribe, the Aetas, who were displaced by the Pinatubo eruption.
    The Aetas are an indigenous race who lived in scattered, isolated mountainous areas around Luzon Island.
    Following the 1991 eruption, thousands of Aetas living near the volcano descended to the lowlands. They were later relocated by the provincial government in resettlement areas near the foot of the mountains.
    George Zawal, a tribal leader who was resettled, said the Aetas were the first to experience the wrath of the eruption, with dozens of them killed while escaping.
    Zawal said his tribe has recovered with the help of the provincial government, and now he wants to give back to the community by transforming a part of their ancestral land near the volcano into a tourist site.
    "We want to use our mountain to achieve progress, so that the resources coming from our mountain like our water does not go to waste. Everyone, even the people in the lowlands, should benefit from what we have," Zawal said.
    Since the late 1990s, the provincial government has been developing tourism in Mt. Pinatubo, setting up various attractions like trekking tours to the crater lake, camping, and leisure resorts that boost the local economy.
    Twenty years after Mt. Pinatubo wreaked havoc, locals are again looking to the volcano as a source of livelihood.
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