For few days now, I’ve been thinking of what happened to Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte, in my native land of Philippines.

I saw footages from television network ABS-CBN about the tragedy. Life is really uncertain.

We haven’t recovered from the ULTRA stampede that killed more than 70 persons and injured several hundreds others after the victims, together with thousand others, converged in Ultra, Pasig City to get the chance to win handsome prizes. Poverty and (dole mentality, I must add), drove them there.

Then, came in just two weeks I guess, this Saint Bernard tragedy. Oh no, no more next please, Lord, I murmured while watching TV that night this incident was reported on TV.

Based on The Philippine STAR report today ( the paper which incidentally is where I contribute stories from Pangasinan), after more than 48 hours of digging into what is left of Barangay Guinsaugon here, everyone speaks in hushed tones, ears to the ground, hoping the slightest sound would signal that life still stirs under tons of mud.

I lifted some portions of the story written by Roberto Dejon. Please read on.

The search has been complicated by heavy rains, on top of the threat of another landslide from an adjacent mountain as well as the possibility that the rescuers themselves could get sucked into the soft, shifting mud.

Survivors of the tragedy had a tough time figuring out where their houses used to be since familiar landmarks have been also wiped out by Friday’s landslide.

Sketches of what the village used to look like didn’t help either the locals or the visiting rescuers.

Only 65 bodies have been recovered so far. Estimates of the number of people still buried range from 1,400 to between 2,000 and 3,000, and hopes are fading that any of them are still alive.

The military says up to 10 meters of mud — deeper in some places — has buried Barangay Guinsaugon, covering an area of nine square kilometers.

Let’s pray for these poor souls and for those who abuse Nature in order to gain financially. May the Holy Spirit open their minds and end their abuses. We have had so many lessons learned from Nature’s wrath.