Killer quake aftermath

Dagupan not sinking

• Death toll: 48;
• Missing, 14;
• Injured, 24
  
• P4 B needed, rehab work starts;
• Business paralyzed
• Classes still suspended;
• Relief distribution on

Authorities dismissed as products of wild imagination reports that the quake-devastated Dagupan City will sink, saying there is no scientific basis for residents to flee the city despite threats posed by tremors and aftershocks.

Romy Torres, a spokesman of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, rushed to the city last Thursday to allay fears that Dagupan City will be reclaimed by the sea.

He motored to barangays Lasip Grande and Pogo Chico to conduct a study on the effects of the killer earthquake whose ruins entombed 2 meters hundreds of residential buildings in the areas.

Fourth District Rep. Jose de Venecia, Jr. explained that the case of those villages was a natural phenomenon, which occurred in all affected zones across Luzon, citing the downtown area where soils spewed hot mud.

Mayor Liberato Reyna Sr. and Vice Mayor Alipio Fernandez, Jr. branded reports that the city will be erased from the map as “Barbershop tales”.

The quake’s death toll rose to 48 as of yesterday. Twenty four were reported injured, while 14 others remain unaccounted for.

The disaster left more than 2,000 families homeless in Pangasinan and its two cities.

The task force on rehabilitation and reconstruction created by Gov. Rafael M. Colet and Reyna confirmed De Venecia’s assessment the city alone suffered damages in private and government properties.

The task force is chaired by Fernandez as executive officer with Colet and Reyna as co-chairmen.

City engineering crewmen last Friday failed to dig out bodies of two tricycle drivers and a cigarette vendor believed entombed by fallen tower and a huge slab of the old St. John Cathedral here.

Twelve evacuation centers, mostly in public elementary schools, were set up as residents of several barangays, including Pantal, fled their homes. Some were accommodated at the Catholic Church in Lingayen.

Colet and Fernandez presided over a meeting of government and private sector leaders last Friday and finalized the blue print for the reconstruction of the city’s economic structure.

About 80% of the city’s commercial buildings on Perez Blvd. and A.B. Fernandez Ave. sunk and collapsed and tilting structures have been condemned as unsafe for occupancy.

Damaged were the Methodist Church, which was a total wreck, the St. John Cathedral administration building; Joressa Building, Ramos Clinic, Nazareth Hospital, Pangasinan Maritime Academy, Dagupan Institute of Technology, Luzon Colleges, Magic Supermart, Marimar Dept. Store, Dagupan City National High School, Pangasinan Universal Institute, some cinema houses and others.

The Lyceum Northwestern and University of Pangasinan suffered cracks, but school officials said the damage was minor. The Magsaysay Bridge totally collapsed and the damaged Quinto’s bridge is passable by vehicles, weighing not more than 10 tons.

PROFITEERING

Provincial Trade director Jamie Lucas and city alderman Teodoro C. Manaois III appealed for patriotism among merchants, saying trade malpractices “would trigger regrettable consequences.” Lucas said one violator of trade regulations earlier caught for over pricing fuel will be punished.

Also rendered impassable by the Intensity 7.7 quake were the Bonuan-San Fabian Bridge, the Embarcadero Bridge, the Calvo Bridge in Bayambang and the Plaridel Bridge in Carmen, Rosales which collapsed.

Government engineers said the collapsed bridges, which include the Magsaysay Bridge will be temporarily replaced with bailey panels.

CALASIAO

Calasiao Mayor Camelito Sison reported that the quake destroyed the town’s 400 year old Catholic Church, 90% of the elementary and high school buildings and public market. He placed the damage at P50 M. He said — like Dagupan — his town will bounce back from its battered economy within 15 to 20 years.

MAGALDAN

Some P15 M. in public and private properties was destroyed by the killer quake in Mangaldan, according to Mayor Banigno Gubatan. He said damage to roads and school buildings was heavy. He said seven town residents were killed during the devastating tremor. Also damaged was the P10 M. Nestle Philippines warehouse in the town.

CLASSES

Classes in all levels remain in indefinitely suspended in the city. Vice Gov. Gonzalo Duque, an official of the Lyceum Northwestern, and Engr. MacArthur Samson, LC executive vice president, assured students, faculty members and parents that everything is being done to secure the safety of the school buildings.

Duque, Samson and public school officials said developments will be announced on radios.

BANKS

The quake shut banks and several gasoline stations and paralyzed transportation, electric and communication systems. The Philippine National Bank branch manager Crispin Camorno said depositors may transact business in the PNB’s branch in Lingayen as the branch in the city sank and suffered cracks.

Dagupan Electric Corp. manager Jose Apigo said the quake destroyed P2 M. worth of electrical facilities.

I lost my dad on July 16, 1990
By Army J. Bangsal

SIXTEEN years ago on July 16, 1990, Monday, at about 4:30 p.m., I was at the office of the Provincial Assessor, Mr. Nestor Quiambao, at the capitol compound, when the earth began to shake.

I felt like I was in a sensurround theatre or in a crescendo of force rolling under the ground. I hid myself under a narra table. After a few seconds, I heard people shouting and running out of the building. I was one of the last to leave the place and joined the rest of the provincial employees, kneeling, praying aloud fearing if it was the end of the world.

When the earthquake slowed down, the employees left silently but in haste to look for their loved ones. On my way to the Poblacion, with Elisa Torio, I was not worried until we saw cracks on the roads, which were already underwater.

Houses were tilted, people on the streets were crying. It was then when I heard the news of the extent of the earthquake damage in Dagupan City.

When I reached our store, my sister Marissa came, still in the state of shock and trembling. She saw water spurting out of the soil and the cracks on the roads which opened and closed.

She asked where daddy was. I quickly answered “At the Department of Agriculture in Dagupan”. Daddy held office there every Monday as Provincial Agri-Fishery chairman. I was very sure he was with his secretary, Mr. Tamondong, and that he was in safe hands. I found out later that his secretary had left minutes before the earthquake.

I learned later that daddy was having a meeting at the Luzon Colleges during the temblor. Then Vice President MacArthur Samson and some students came rushing down from the third floor and proceeded to the school quadrangle together with my father.

He was reportedly kneeling and clutching his chest. At that point, Mr. Samson asked some students to bring him to the nearest hospital.

Sadly enough, the hospital was closed and no matter how the students knocked, the nurses inside did not open the door. My father died at the door of the hospital.

A flash of thoughts brought back some memories. My dad’s lingering forethoughts about his last minutes were recalled. That he would leave without a fuss, that he would go with his boots on.

When his time would be up, he told us not to shed tears but to be joyous and happy. “Remember, that day will be my graduation day,” he said.

He always told me that his death would be well-remembered. True to his words, the day he died will always be remembered because it was the day the earth shook and devastated Dagupan.

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Images by John Bolinas

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2006/07/10/the-1990-earthquake-1/ 

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2006/07/10/the-1990-earthquake-2/ 

http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/2006/07/16/the-1990-earthquake-3/ 

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