Governor Lilia G. Pineda, Mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez of the City of San Fernando, provincial board members and other local officials led some two thousand employees of the provincial government of Pampanga in the commemorative walk kicking off the various activities on the 20th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.
Two separate groups met up at two assembly points, Mary the Queen Academy in Barangay Cabalantian, Bacolor and Betis Church in Guagua. The walk started at five o’clock in the morning and the two groups converged at the San Guillermo Church in Bacolor town an hour later at six.
It will be recalled that Bacolor was the hardest and most immediately hit among Pampanga’s towns from day one of the Pinatubo eruption. The San Guillermo Church had been half buried in 25 feet of piled lahar but thanks to the Bacoloreños’ determination to save the seat of its Catholic faith, the church now stands as a strong testament to the Kapampangans’ ability to rise from the worst of adversities.
“Maganda ang paglalakad kasi presko pa ang hangin kaya di masyado nakakapagod,” one lady employee described the walk.
Most of those who joined the walk were victims of what the world described as one of the worst eruptions anywhere in the world. The walk, they say, served as a reminder of how they have lived through and survived one of the greatest disasters of all time.
Karen Dale of the Provincial Action Center for OFW Concerns recalled that she was only a grade six pupil at the time Pinatubo volcano erupted in June 1991.
“Bata pa ako nuon pero natatandaan ko ang matinding takot ng mga taong direktang napinsala ng pagputok ng Pinatubo; inisip ng marami na baka magugunaw na ang mundo.”
Rima Hernandez of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Pampanga Office, had a unique experience when Cabalantian was unexpectedly hit by huge lahar flows.
“Cabalantian was caught unaware by the lahar onslaught because it had been the only barangay in Bacolor that had been spared earlier on from the effects of the eruption. Kasi nga unprepared kaya may mga namatay at mas mahirap ang pinagdaanan para maisalba ang mga tao.”
Hernandez was one of those rescued by a helicopter to safety, video footage of which was to keep airing on television when news on the destruction, relief and rescue efforts were played in news broadcasts.
It resembled a scene from the movies but it was actually happening which made the danger feel so real, Hernandez recalled.
Many of those who participated in the commemorative walk expressed a feeling of liberation from the bondage of a hard and miserable life in the immediate aftermath of the eruption.
“Ngayon naglalakad kami bilang pasasalamat sa pagkakaligtas at sa pagkakataong mamuhay muli nang matiwasay at payapa,” exclaimed one senior citizen who saw the helplessness of their situation 20 years ago.
One job order employee of the provincial government, a native of Bacolor who has since gone back to their place of origin after years of residing in a resettlement site, agreed with the decision of the provincial and local officials to commemorate the 20 years after Pinatubo’s eruption.
According to her, “ito ay isang magandang pagkakataon upang lumingon sa ating hirap na pinagdaanan, kung paano tayo unti-unting nakabangon, at pasalamatan ang kasalukuyang pamumuhay at bumuo pa ng isang mas magandang hinaharap para sa ating mga anak”.
This is exactly the spirit which the governor and other officials wanted to elicit among Kapampangans in planning for and implementing the activities relative to the Pinatubo eruption 20 years ago.
Succeeding activities include the following: simultaneous thanksgiving masses in 22 town parishes; solemn Eucharistic celebration in San Guillermo Church; trade and food fair, furniture exhibit, photo and painting exhibit, film viewing on Pinatubo; phot exhbit at SM Pampanga; serenata in San Guillermo Church; ceremonial lighting of the giant lantern and fireworks display at the megadike. (Pampanga PIO)
