Ghosts of Christmas past haunt Filipino typhoon victims

PADANG, Philippines, Dec 23 (Reuters) Sherwin Ballester doesn't want an iPod or a pair of flash sneakers for Christmas, all he wants is a sign from his dead father and brother.

The 15-year-old Philippine high school dropout sits silently for hours in a vast wasteland of mud where his village used to lie before Typhoon Durian swept it and his family away.

''Santa might grant me my wish,'' Ballester said, pointing to places where he used to play with his brother and cousins. ''I sorely miss them. I hope they will make me feel their presence. I just want some signs.'' Durian decimated Padang, a once thriving rural village at the foot of Mayon volcano around 200 miles south of Manila, after flash floods sent tonnes of volcanic debris onto its houses and farms last month.

Ballester lost his father Serafin, elder brother Joemar and 17 uncles, aunts and cousins in the torrent. He is one of many bereaved. Nearly 1,200 people were feared killed in the catastrophe and around 120,000 are still homeless.

While Ballester sits and waits, a handful of men dig layers of volcanic debris to salvage cooking pans, kitchenware and other valuables from their homes buried under 8-10 feet of mud, sand and boulders.

''Christmas will never be the same for us,'' Silangan Santander told Reuters, feeding her 2-year-old daughter at a packed school converted into temporary shelter for hundreds of displaced people from Padang.

''There's nothing left for us. We lost our homes, we lost our farms, we lost our loved ones. We're not sure how long the government will feed us.'' FEEL GUILTY Each family in Padang lost an average of four to five members.

With such grief and misery, celebrating Christmas with the traditional family reunion, exchange of gifts and delicacies such as roasted pig seems wrong for those whose homes and families are still standing.

''I really can't feel Christmas,'' said Florian Locsin, a small hotel operator. ''I feel guilty celebrating when the people around me continue to suffer from the effects of the typhoon.'' Wide areas of the Bicol region, where Padang was situated, are still without power and in the regional hub of Legazpi City, there were no carol-singers, no decorations hanging in homes and shops and Christmas parties were cancelled.

Even radio stations were avoiding playing festive tunes.

''Those who want to celebrate Christmas go to Manila and stay with their relatives,'' said Joan Villanueva, a member of the local disaster agency.

While elsewhere in the country, people will be feasting on pig and rice cakes on Christmas eve, former residents of Padang will be eating canned sardines and packs of instant noodles.

The next day, the surviving members of the Santander family will gather and hold memorial services at the place where their home used to stand.

''Our family will never be complete again, so we want to be with them in spirit during Christmas day, a tradition we observed when we were still one big happy family,'' Silangan said.

On Christmas day, Ballester will also return to what used to be his home.

''I wish Santa Claus could fulfil my wish this Christmas,'' he said. ''I desperately want to see my father and brother again.'' REUTERS PB PM0855