Landslide kills 13 of Nenita Raganet’s family

MACO, Davao de Oro (MindaNews / 13 February)—With tons of mud and debris rendering Barangay Masara of this municipality uninhabitable, the burden weighs heavier on homemaker Nenita Raganet, 54.

The landslide has taken away 13 of her family members: 3 children, 2 childrenin-law, 8 grandchildren. As of Monday (Feb. 12), only seven of them have been found.

As Nita arrives at the incident command post (ICP) in neighboring Barangay Elizalde on Monday morning, she carries granddaughter Jessa Mae, barely two years old. Both her parents (Ramil Raganet, 28, and Angel Mabandos, 26) and only sister Ramela, 5, were buried under the rubble.

Nita is headed to the Management of the Dead and Missing (MDM) compound at the Elizalde ICP to retrieve the death certificate of her granddaughter, Mil Joy Sereño, 12, whose body was found Sunday afternoon.

Mil Joy would have been 13 in August.

In Mil Joy’s immediate family, only her father, Joey Marie Sereño, 39, is alive, but bears the trauma of losing most of his family. Mil Joy’s mother Nenemil Raganet, 33 (Nita’s eldest); and sisters Cristin Rose, 7, and Prime, 1 year and 2 months, all perished.

As Nita waits to be called by personnel from the MDM committee, Nita holds back tears as she recites from memory the names of those who disappeared.

This trip to the ICP is definitely not Nita’s last visit, with the local government here strict about only allowing immediate family to process death certificates and other claims at the compound.

There are 12 other relatives to process, and the rest of the family (there are few remaining) is busy tending to everything else at the Lorenzo S. Sarmiento Sr. National High School evacuation center.

The entire family of April Mae Raganet-Lorica, 26, vanished that night: husband Ronald Lorica Sr., 38, and children Ron Trex, 14; Ronald Jr., 10; Gerald, 9; and Jon Rex, 6. Five days later, the bodies of Ronald Sr., Ronald Jr., and Jon Rex were found.

Helen Baybay, 50, Nita’s sister-in-law who accompanied her at the ICP, told MindaNews in a phone interview on Tuesday that the bodies of Nenemil and daughter April May had since been found Monday afternoon.

Ramil’s body was also found 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

Nita and her husband Sergio Raganet Jr., 53, are barely making it in the Sarmiento evacuation center. While the resources are abundant, and food and other necessities available, the other expenses leave the rest of the family wondering what to do next.

Nita is left with the care of Jessa Mae and wonders where to get the resources for the toddler’s needs. “Sa gatas pa lang pati sa diaper, lisod na daan” (Considering the expenses for the milk and diaper, it won’t be easy), she says, at times wiping her moist eyes with a face towel.

Baybay said the family has been spending at least P2,000 per day since the Feb. 6 tragedy for the daily upkeep. There are documents to process, transportation expenses, and other things to worry about for the coming days.

The clan is still reeling from the shock of the tragedy.

The Sereño household was at the Purok 1 Masara Mini-Gym as they were evacuated as early as Feb. 4 due to the low pressure area that affected Mindanao.

The Mini Gym was wiped out by the landslide, too.

Ramil Raganet and Ronald Lorica Sr., brothers-in-law, worked for the Maria-Socio General Services Inc. (MSGSI), a manpower service contracted by Apex Mining to provide manpower, and the same company who owns the buses that ferried Apex workers.

The two are among the 68 confirmed dead, 32 injured and 51 missing announced by the Department of Interior and Local Government–Management of the Dead and the Missing (DILG-MDM) the same afternoon of Nita’s visit.

With the names of the confirmed dead withheld by officials, it was not immediately clear whether

Ramil and Ronald Sr. were listed under Dead or Missing, their bodies the only sign of closure for the rest of the Raganets.

On Monday, Lea Añora, Local Government Operations Officer (LGOO) of DILG-MDM, stated that out of the deceased, 26 were Apex employees, while 42 were residents of Zone 1 in the said barangay. Five bodies have yet to be identified.

Rescuers carry the dead body of a landslide victim in Masara. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO

From the missing individuals, 24 of them are local residents, 19 of them were employees of MSGSI, and 8 were Apex Mining employees.

“Wala mi kabalo unsay buhaton” (We don’t know what to do), Nita tells MindaNews as she awaits personnel from the MDM. “Dako kaayog gastohonon, unya wala baya mi trabaho sa akong bana” (There are a lot of expenses looming, and me and my husband don’t have jobs).

“Gusto na namo sila makita. Kinahanglan na namo sila ilubong” (We want to see their bodies. We need to bury them),” Baybay said.

Kier Quindao, a volunteer social worker who serves as camp manager at the Lorenzo Sarmiento Evacuation Center, said that most of the residents of Purok 1 in Masara are fearful and no longer want to come back home. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)