Yolanda survivors go online to show ‘real score in Ground Zero’

MANILA, Philippines - An open video letter from victims of Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) to Pope Francis has been released in the form of a compelling 14-minute online documentary that vividly exposes the human face of the humanitarian crisis, which has been continuously unfolding since the typhoon made landfall in November 2013.

The film was produced by Filipino-Canadian filmmaker Sean Devlin in collaboration with People Surge, a broad alliance of Yolanda survivors, organizations and individuals joined together in the common goal of helping the typhoon victims and minimizing if not preventing the risk from similar calamities, natural or man-made, in the future.

“We had but a split-second to witness Pope Francis’ visit here in Haiyan Ground Zero of Tacloban City as Typhoon Mekkhala (local name Amang) approached fast and the popemobile traveling faster. We are thankful that the Holy Father stood with us even if he was only able to see the tip of the iceberg that is the worsening crises of poverty, homelessness, hunger and persecution that we survivors continue to face to date. We would like Pope Francis to see more, to help us share our plight and spread solidarity to the rest of the world,” said Efleda Bautista, chairperson of People Surge.

The film details many key issues being neglected by the administration of President Aquino, including under-reporting of the death toll, aid that never reached impacted communities and even the alleged extrajudicial killing of two survivors whose organizing and services were exposing these government failures.

“We hope that by taking social media by storm, we would be able to bridge the distance between us and Pope Francis as he travels back to Vatican City. We are ardently anticipating the release of his Encyclical on Climate Change and Human Ecology, and hope our aspirations are reflected in the historic scripture. We are only beginning to understand and grapple with the realities of global warming and climate change even as we are already facing its deadly impacts. May the teachings of the Holy Father help inspire action to our fellow children of the storm to claim climate justice and ensure the stewardship of all creation,” explained Bautista.

The film has been made available online at http://www.dearpope.org/ and has been screened publicly in a ‘Gathering of the Poor’ at the University of the Philippines Tacloban College on the eve of the pope’s arrival. Participants in the gathering learned about Pope Francis through speeches, cultural performances, multimedia presentations, and symbolic actions.

“We hope Pope Francis will surprise the world once again by breaking these boundaries between him and us survivors, and give voice to our still unheard cries for justice and change,” Bautista said.