Digital kiosk helps youth learn lessons from Mt. Pinatubo

ANGELES CITY, PAMPANGA, Philippines — Do young people know what a volcanic eruption is? Can they imagine the destructive force of lahar? Beyond the altered landscapes, what other tragedies did communities endure from a disaster whose effects are still felt today?

Answers to these and other questions about the June 15, 1991, eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, the years of lahar flows and the disaster that followed are now just a few taps away.

Young people can access this information through the Pinatubo Kiosk, an interactive digital booth that is the newest feature of the Center for Kapampangan Studies (CKS) Pinatubo Museum in this city.

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Preserving history

“The Pinatubo Kiosk preserves the history of the eruption and the disaster. It also serves as a bridge to the youth so they can prepare for a similar disaster,” said Myra Lopez, associate director of CKS at the Holy Angel University (HAU), in an interview.

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Six fourth-year information technology students from HAU’s School of Computing developed the kiosk. They are Luis Gabriel Aquino, Justin Cabe, Sebastian Canlas, Friench Lonie Kylevine Ocampo, Marius Kevin Galang and James Carl Mananquil, who are between 20 and 24 years old.

Cabe shared the team spent three months developing the digital kiosk, which features videos, photographs, interviews, a chatbot and “Laharaya,” an interactive game.

Lopez said the kiosk is housed at the museum, which CKS opened in 2016 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Pinatubo eruption. It was launched on Oct. 2, following the 31st anniversary of the Oct. 1, 1995, Cabalantian Tragedy, when lahar buried large portions of Bacolor, the former capital of Pampanga.

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During the launch, poet laureate Alvin Ignacio, also known as Bertong Isponga, and journalist Cecile Yumul shared their eyewitness accounts of the disaster.

The Pinatubo Museum became more interactive in 2022 with the addition of augmented reality features to photographs in its timeline. It also houses the large mural “Lumud” (Drowned) by Arnel Garcia, the art installation “Ing Ablas nang Apung Namalyari” (The Revenge of Apung Namalyari) by Don Reich de Dios and various artifacts related to the eruption and its aftermath.

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Maritess David-Cabe said she was proud that her son Justin was among the kiosk developers. She was 11 years old when Mt. Pinatubo erupted, and said the project helped her son better understand what she experienced.

Bea Yumul, a Grade 9 student, noted the kiosk helped her grasp the ordeal endured by her parents and grandparents.

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“Best of all, the information can help us prepare for an eruption and how to survive it,” Yumul added. /cb