Digging, lifting, and waiting for almost two weeks since a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Mindanao — this has been 72-year-old farmer Armando Dante’s daily routine.
Most days, Dante picks up fractured pieces of his home, places the rubble in a corner of his front yard, and tends to candles sitting right next to what was once the wall of their home.
It is a tradition to keep a candle lit for 40 days after the death of loved ones in hopes that the light would guide them on their journey to the Creator. Dante’s family keeps three candles lit — one big candle, and two smaller ones.
On June 8, when the earth began to rumble, the walls of Dante’s home collapsed, killing his daughter Karen Joy, 24, and grandchildren Rania Hazia, 3, and Rydan Xion, 8 months old.
“Katong si Rania, mangayo man to og P5 nako para palit candy sa tindahan. Karon, wala na’y mangayo sinsilyo nako. Nitulo akong luha ato,” Dante told Rappler on Friday, June 19. (Rania used to ask me for P5 to buy candy at the store. Now, no one’s asking me for coins. I cried thinking about that.)
