Young singer refuses to give up hope as Philippines death toll passes 170

Friday, Oct 18, 2013

Manila: A young choir singer who belongs to a church that was totally damaged by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in central Philippines refused to give up hope as the calamity’s death toll climbed to more than 170, sources said.

“Let us not lose hope. The earthquake in Bohol and Cebu is just a test,” Carmelle Mae Inzon, member of the internationally renowned Loboc Children’s Choir said on TV, before she and her group sang Josh Groban’s composition, The Prayer.

A TV anchor turned teary-eyed as ABS CBN accompanied Loboc Choir’s impromptu singing with heart-rending video clips of people who were devastated by the earthquake in Bohol, one of the hardest hit areas in central Philippines.

The choir will continue practising and singing even if the church where it belongs, the Church of San Pedro Apostol, in Loboc is almost gone, said Inzon, adding that religious leaders have been celebrating masses in an open area near the church’s rubble.

Composed of 30 students of the Loboc Elementary School, the choir group won top prizes of the National Musical Competition for Young Artists three times, in 1993, 1995, and 2001.

It also won first prize with a gold medal, when it bested 12 competitors in the children’s choir category of Europe and Its Songs Festival in Barcelona, Spain in September 2003.

The loss of Loboc’s historical church of San Pedro is tragic to residents in Bohol, tourists, and culture-minded Filipinos nationwide.

Built by Jesuit Spanish priests in 1602, San Pedro is one of the oldest churches in the country. Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan carried Spain’s flag when he arrived at the shores of Cebu (near Bohol) in 1521. His assassination by Lapu-Lapu, a local warrior, delayed the continuation of Spanish colonial rule to 1556.

Hope is part of Philippine culture, due to a Catholic religious tradition that began during the Spanish era 500 years ago, and Protestantism that began during the American era 115 years ago, analysts said.

The two colonial periods left a legacy of old architecture in the Philippines, part of which was single-handedly erased by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Bohol and Cebu last Tuesday.

The deadly temblor totally and partially damaged 14 of Bohol’s 30 historical Catholic churches, said Trixie Angeles of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

In nearby Cebu, two major Catholic Churches were heavily damaged, and four others partially damaged.

All these churches have paintings on their walls and ceilings, carvings on their doors, museums rich with artefacts of antiquity, done in Romanesque, Byzantine, and Baroque architecture.

After inspecting the extent of damage in Bohol and Cebu’s historical sites starting Thursday, Angeles said: “It is huge. There might be hidden damages on churches that are still standing.”

Initial estimate for the immediate refurbishment of critically damaged churches would not be less than P100 million (Dh8.33 million), she added.

But the government’s reconstruction project might not consider cultural sites as a priority, considering the earthquake’s rude destruction on 30 roads, ten bridges, several markets, hospitals, government offices, and flood control systems both in Bohol and Cebu.

With the help of loans from banks, private owners could finance the refurbishment of 19,000 houses that were damaged in Bohol and Cebu. But poor people who are illegal settlers would miss this option, a finance official said.

The painful picture of losses done by the earthquake is still being unravelled.

It has killed 171 people, 159 of them from Bohol, 11 from Cebu, and one in Siquijor, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) said, adding the number could further rise as rescuers reach isolated areas by motorboats.

The death toll could pass 200, with 20 more who remained missing, three in Tagbilaran, three in Clarin, four in Antiquera, and 10 in Loon, the NDRRMC said.

The number of injured, placed at 375, could still dramatically rise, said the NDRRMC.

The earthquake affected 3.4 million people from 879 villages, 27 municipalities, seven cities, and three provinces in region VII, the NDRRMC said.

Some 162,566 people were also displaced from their homes. Some were placed at evacuation centres, the rest lived with families and relatives.

The Philippines is part of Asia-Pacific’s Ring of Fire where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions always occur.

By Barbara ?Mae Dacanay Bureau Chief