Mt. Pinatubo -- Ten And Twenty Years Later

Mount Pinatubo’s Legacies

PART ONE
Ten Years After The Biggest Volcano Eruptions Of The Century

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 Porac, Pampanga.  It was such an eerie feeling to hike a lahar-carved deep canyon and see structures protruding from the eroded walls that were not there before Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991.  Above ground, looking down at the submerged homes with only the  rooftops  jutting out conjured up images of  a  lost  community  that  we are only accustomed to seeing in National Geographic.  Some of those homes still contain many of the priceless possessions that had been collected for years, or probably even handed down through ancestral bequeaths

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In an interview with a local businessman, Pablo Bayalan, Jr., whose families left their homes, vehicles and possessions during Pinatubo’s eruption, and evacuated to Cavite.  Bayalan told a story about a Balikbayan woman who came back to the Philippines with her bank savings, jewelry and other valuable goods.  She wanted to build a nice home for her parents and to share her good fortune with her many siblings.  The family and the town folks celebrated her homecoming and generosity.  But Mount Pinatubo’s eruption killed all but one of the family members. Today, the sole survivor of that family roams the town like a ghost in the night.  Bayalan talked about how material possessions had become immaterial to him when his family escaped death. To many, Mount Pinatubo’s legacy could be surmised as an awakening to what is truly material in life-life in itself.  

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Some believe that the most significant legacy of Mount Pinatubo’s eruption is the modernization of the Aeta youth, which might have buried their ancient culture in lahar.  The fusing of their culture with that of the lowlanders’ has exposed them to crimes, like syndicated street peddling and selling fake gold.  In general, many Aetas believe that their new life has brought progress to their tribes, and that the education of the youth is perhaps the most significant of all.

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Photo shows some of the resettled Aetas in the lower lands of Pampanga.  They rely on their handcrafted bows and arrows, flutes and rosary beads for their livelihood.  Many of the young Aeta children were born here instead of in the mountain; therefore, they do not share the same sentiment that the elder Aetas feel about Mount Pinatubo  — “their mother and protector,” and the place where their god lives.  Unlike their parents, grandparents and ancestors, the new generation of Aeta aspires for educational and material aspirations in life.  This is one of the legacies of Mount Pinatubo whose multiple eruptions in 1991 had forced the Aeta to leave their mountain and live with the lowlanders.  The elder tribesmen fear that the new generation of “modern” Aetas could jeopardize the preservation of their race and true culture, as we know it today.

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Maria Panlilio spends many days with the Aeta Tribes in the Provinces of Pampanga and Zambales whenever she goes back to the Philippines.  In this photo the Aetas encircle Panlilio during one of her visits to the resettlement sites in a personal humanitarian project.

She surveys their new living conditions and how they are coping with the new lifestyle in their forced environment.  Most of the elder tribesmen want to go back to the mountain, which the youth prefer the city life.  

 

Mount Pinatubo’s Legacies

PART TWO
Ten Years After The Biggest Volcano Eruptions Of The Century