ROXAS CITY鈥擟ouple Hilario Carpina and Lowella Aninang left their children in their hillside home on Olotayan Island just so they could cross to the other side of the island, about half an hour trek, after hearing news of relief distribution in preparation for typhoon Yolanda.
But instead of a kilo of rice, tragedy lay in wait for them.
鈥淭hat was around noon and the wind was growing stronger,鈥� Aninang, 27, said on聽 Saturday in an interview here.
Like the other residents, the couple sought refuge in a school located near the seashore and stayed inside one of its classrooms as they waited for the strong winds to subside.
Recalling her husband鈥檚 final moments, in mixed Filipino and Hiligaynon, Aninang said Carpina suddenly pushed her aside just as the ceiling collapsed on them.
A steel rod left a shallow cut on her neck but an angle bar pierced through Carpina鈥檚 neck. The man was also pinned under a collapsed concrete wall.
鈥淩ight then and there I knew he was dead. He wasn鈥檛 even able to say any last words,鈥� she said.
Aninang let herself out through an opening in the fallen building and ran out for help amid howling winds. She held onto a tree until three men came to pull her to safety before returning later to recover her husband鈥檚 body that was under the debris.
Although they were not married, Aninang referred to Carpina, a 34-year-old charcoal-maker who earned P1,000 a week, as husband. They have two daughters, Hazel, 4, and Lyka, who turned 3 years old on Nov. 17.
鈥淗e was a very loving husband,鈥� she said of the man she met four years ago in Novaliches where they both used to work鈥攕he in a canteen and him in a factory.
Aninang said the children were still too young to understand but it pained her to hear Hazel telling people: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have a father anymore. 鈥�
Manuel Aninang, chief of Olotayan Island village, and a distant relative of the family, said it was only on Friday, one week after Yolanda鈥檚 fury, that聽 a doctor in the city attended to Aninang鈥檚 wound.
鈥淪he said she wanted to kill herself but we told her the reason her husband let her live was [to take care of] their children,鈥� Manuel said.
Aninang said she did not have a job and was unsure of how she could raise her children.
鈥淢aybe someone could help me put up a store elsewhere,鈥� she said.
鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 want us to go back to Olotayan because I don鈥檛 want to remember,鈥� she said.