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Sendong had exposed long-standing issues including land grabbing, illegal extraction, and the dispossession of communities along rivers, coasts, and ancestral domains, say environmentalists
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – With a lighted candle cupped in her hand, Midy Daig gently traced the name of her husband, Clyde Eddie Daig, etched into the Sendong Memorial Wall at Gaston Park, across the Saint Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral, on Wednesday afternoon, December 17.
Clyde Eddie was among the more than 400 people in Cagayan de Oro who were never found after flash floods unleashed by Tropical Storm Sendong (Washi) inundated riverside communities between the night of December 16 and the early hours of December 17, 2011.
The deluge tore through Sitio Cala-cala in Barangay Macasandig and other low-lying areas along the Cagayan River, sweeping away homes, people, and livestock.
The 2011 storm left a trail of devastation that Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities are still reckoning with more than a decade later. Over a thousand people were killed, while more than a thousand others were never accounted for in the two cities.
Midy, now 64, survived by climbing to the second floor of their house. Her husband did not. He went down to the ground floor as the waters rose and was never seen again.
Midy and her three children narrowly escaped the torrent, which surged as high as 17 feet in some areas.
“I saw a wall of water crashing into our village, flooding homes and sweeping people and animals away,” she recalled.
As the floodwaters continued to rise, even the upper floor of their house was submerged. Midy said she, too, was eventually swept away.
She was later rescued by fishermen from the nearby town of El Salvador City in Misamis Oriental, who found her floating in Macajalar Bay.
Fourteen years later, the devastation of that December morning has begun to fade from public memory, especially among younger residents. For many of them, knowledge of the disaster comes only through stories passed down by elders like Midy – accounts of a tragedy that reshaped the city.
Sendong never intensified into typhoon level, but the volume of rain it unleashed overwhelmed the two Northern Mindanao cities.
Data from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) show that Cagayan de Oro saw 180 millimeters of rainfall in just six hours – roughly double its normal monthly average.
That intense rainfall swelled river tributaries in the upland areas of Bukidnon province, funnelling floodwaters into the Cagayan River and downstream communities. The water rose while many people were sleeping.
On Wednesday, local artist Nic Aca marked the anniversary with a performance art piece at the memorial wall. Using his body to reenact and narrate the catastrophe, Aca performed before a small gathering of onlookers, including children.
In Cagayan de Oro, the names of the dead are carved into the memorial wall tucked into a corner of Gaston Park, a marker meant to preserve the memory of those who were lost due to the worst disaster to hit the city in recent years.
PERFORMANCE ART. Artist Nic Aca performs at the Sendong Memorial Wall at Gaston Park, Cagayan de Oro, during the 14th anniversary of Tropical Storm Sendong devastation, which killed over a thousand people in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities on December 16 and 17, 2011. Froilan Gallardo/Rappler“Moving on does not mean forgetting what happened 14 years ago,” said Aca, who has staged similar performances at every Sendong anniversary.
He said the events that followed the storm remain a deeply personal and painful memory for survivors, one that resurfaces each year with the reading of names and the lighting of candles.
“The memorial wall is a powerful reminder of the tremendous loss suffered by this city,” Aca said. “For many, the wounds may not be visible anymore, but the emotional scars are still there.”
Long-standing issues
Meanwhile, local environmental activists said the forces that made Sendong deadly have persisted.
The Sendong devastation had exposed long-standing issues including land grabbing, illegal extraction, and the dispossession of communities along rivers, coasts, and ancestral domains, according to the environmentalists in a statement released on Thursday, December 18.
“Sendong was a warning written in floodwaters. What we are witnessing now is the same crime, repeated – only slower, quieter, and more normalized,” said Orlando Ravanera, leader of the Makakalikasan Party.
He said illegal mining, coastal grabbing, river destruction, and assaults on ancestral domains continue across Northern Mindanao, and indigenous peoples and coastal communities have been forced off their lands, with water sources seized or polluted and livelihoods destroyed.
The group said it documented at least 101 deaths in related struggles over land and resources in recent years, mostly farmers, fisherfolk, and community leaders.
“Our communities are not statistics. They are families who survived Sendong only to be pushed back into danger by land grabbing and environmental destruction,” said Myrna Daniel, convener of the group in Northern Mindanao.
The environmentalists called for emergency climate and public health measures, biodiversity and habitat protection, and urban greening programs to prevent further displacement of vulnerable communities.
“Environmental collapse is not accidental. It is enabled by budgets, permits, and political decisions,” said Rommel Ortega, Makakalikasan secretary-general. – Rappler.com
