Zenaida Perez was preparing to evacuate their home in Barangay Pilar, Agaton, Leyte when a wall of mud and rock hit their village past 3 p.m. last April 12.

"We were preparing our things for evacuation. I visited my parents' home because I thought my boys were playing [Mobile Legends] but they were just at home, sleeping. When I got home, I was climbing up the stairs when it hit us. I didn't know what happened next because I was buried," she said in Filipino in an interview with ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

Perez said she was able to grab her youngest daughter before the landslide hit but lost her grip. "Hawak ko na yung anak ko pero nabitawan ko," she said.

Perez's daughter was one of 49 confirmed fatalities during the landslide on Holy Tuesday. She would have turned 9 on Monday.

Her sons sustained several bruises while her husband was also rescued despite swallowing sand after being buried in the muck.

"Nakalunok siya ng buhangin. Natabunan din siya ng dagat," she said.

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Perez is currently caring for her family including her father whose foot was placed in a cast after sustaining an injury during the landslide.

Their house in Pilar is still standing but it is doubtful that she will go back there.

According to Abuyog Mayor Lemuel Traya, only 5-10 percent of houses in Barangay Pilar were left standing after last week's disaster. Owners of these remaining structures have no desire to go back, he said.

"Ayaw na nilang bumalik. Ang gagawin natin ay permanent relocation," he said.

(They don't want to go back. What we will do is permanent relocation.)

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• Ilang landslide survivor sa Abuyog sinubukang isalba ang mga gamit

At least 53 people have died in Abuyog as of April 17, including 49 who were killed in the landslide, the mayor said. A total of 103 people remain missing while 1,610 remain in evacuation centers.

Two other coastal villages near Barangay Pilar have also been abandoned. "Walang tao, takot bumalik (There are no people, they're afraid to go back)," the mayor said.

Recovery operations with Philippine Navy divers are ongoing, he said, but not in the landslide area, which remains unstable.

"We are thinking maybe there are bodies under water, caught under the debris. It is very hard to do recovery operations in the landslide area because it might cave in," he said.

Traya denied that deforestation had something to do with Tuesday's disaster, noting that the mountains of Abuyog are green with vegetation.

Instead, he blamed weeks of nonstop rains for softening the earth even before the onslaught of Tropical Storm Agaton.

"Ang bundok dito sa Abuyog ay healthy, the vegetation is healthy. Ang nangyari ngayon Ilang linggo nang umuulan dito. Saturated na masyado ang lupa. Sa sobrang bigat bumigay na," he said.

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