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In Benguet are many wakes to visit


LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Death is in the valley. The stench of death now surrounds the so-called “salad bowl of the north" as the toll from landslides unleashed by typhoon “Pepeng’s" rains last week continues to rise. La Trinidad Mayor Artemio Galwan has been going from wake to wake, consoling his constituents while keeping tab of tasks that need his immediate attention. In this highland town, 109 perished at the height of Pepeng. Four massive landslides in Benguet alone have caused irreparable damage and the search for those buried in mud continues, with the death toll rising to 189 on Thursday.
What would have been a scenic sight becomes tainted by missing chunks of land caused by a landslide in Itogon, Benguet last week. Days after the horrific incident, the area is still blanketed by thick rain clouds. Jonee Mejia
Galwan said the first batch of casualties were buried in local cemeteries while the others will be airlifted to Atok, Buguias and Mankayan. He said the caskets were rushed, using carpentry tools borrowed from the Benguet State University. Crude coffins lay everywhere; some tried to make plywood boxes more comfortable for their loved ones but there was not much to be done. At the La Trinidad gym there were four coffins with computer printed name tags beneath thick clear plastic, in place of glass, thumb tacked to the wood to make them look more decent. There the remains of Danny, Bellia, Daniel and Maribelle Lopez lay - a solitary crown of flowers and four candles lit in remembrance of their earthly lives.
Bodies retrieved from a mudslide in La Trinidad, Benguet are brought to Puguis Elementary School where people locating missing loved ones can try to identify them. Eliza Consul
On the other side of the gym, municipal workers were busy preparing as another batch of coffins would be arriving by midnight. More chairs were brought in, as the place was expected to be filled with mourners. Behind the Benguet General Hospital, a group huddled by a body bag, probably of a relative, while waiting for a casket. There were 11 bodies in the hospital grounds but only half were inside coffins; the others had to wait. Hot porridge donated by a Baguio shop, Goto Baden, was distributed and people around graciously accepted their steaming bowls, but few wanted to eat. Food seemed unimportant in grief. At the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany over 100 mourners converged for eight caskets - those of Arman, Arnel, Ronald and Fe Anno, Froilan Tingcay, Jaime Dapilag, Apple Panganiban and Myrna Bugtong. Pictures adorned the wooden boxes; one was a child not more than 10 years old, one a nurse, another a fresh college graduate. Probably it was better to remember them through their photographs. Galwan said more caskets were being made and the wakes will be done simultaneously, as long as there are bodies recovered. “We will have to make them coffins," he said. - GMANews.TV
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