MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) — Tens of thousands of Filipino residents participated in Saturday’s religious services, as well as in a memorial march in the city of Tacloban commemorating the one-year anniversary of the devastating super typhoon Haiyan, which left large parts of the country in ruins and killed more than 7,350 people, AFP reported on Sunday.
"I miss my children terribly, especially John Dave who would have celebrated his birthday tomorrow […] I miss you, son, I love you so much," said one of the disaster victims, who added that the typhoon ruined her family.
The crowd walked to the gravesites where their relatives, friends and children were buried. Many of them held flowers and candles, whilst some sang prayers.
Typhoon Haiyan was reported to be the most powerful storm in terms of wind speed ever recorded worldwide. The storm destroyed entire villages and left more than four million people homeless, with many of them still residing in temporary facilities.
According to BBC, the anniversary also inspired anti-government protests as many people blame Philippines’ officials for the delays in the national reconstruction process.
"I would hope we can move even faster and I will push everybody to move even faster, but the sad reality is the scope of work you need to do can really not be done overnight," said Filipino president Benigno Aquino.
The crucial problem at hand is determining where to construct new homes for the more than 200,000 displaced persons.
