After the quake, Noraina sells grilled bananas “so we can eat”

GLAN, Sarangani (MindaNews / 11 June) – Before Monday’s Magnitude 7.8 quake, Noraina Dianga was an itinerant fish vendor in Barangay Kapatan. But there is no fish to sell these days as fisherfolk are still shying away from the sea, attending to houses that were either partially or totally damaged, or turning to other survival concerns. 

The 41-year old Noraina, a single parent to five children, is among the homeless. Her house, made of hollow block walls, collapsed. 

^{Noraina Dianga, mother of five, grills bananas to sell at five pesos each on the side of the highway in Barangay Kapatan, Glan, Sarangani on Wednesday, 10 June 2026, “para makakaon mi” (so we can eat). She also pitched a makeshift tent beside her makeshift stall. MindaNews photo by CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS}

On the side of the highway, she pitched a tent made of bedsheets, the ground covered with plastic mats, in the hope that someone would pass by and give them “ayuda” (aid). 

Noraina Dianga pitched a makeshift tent on the side of the highway in Glan, Sarangani after the Magnitude 7.8 quake struck on Monday morning, 8 June 2026. MindaNews met Noraina afternoon of June 10. When it rains, she says, they run to the nearby mosque. MindaNews photo by CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS

But Noraina will not wait for “ayuda” to feed her children. Near the tent, she put up a makeshift stall for her “ginanggang” (grilled bananas) so she could earn some amount “para makakaon mi” (so we can eat), “para mabuhi mi” (so we can live), she told MindaNews on Wednesday afternoon. 

Each grilled banana costs five pesos. 

Noraina and her children have been staying in the tent since Monday. 

What happens if it rains? Noraina replied “diyan na kami sa mosque” (we go to the mosque).  (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)