Malapascua Island: Rising from the Fall

CEBU, Philippines - Who could forget November 8, 2013 – the day when the strongest typhoon in history to make landfall devastated Visayan region?

Not the people of Malapascua, off the northern tip of mainland Cebu. It was the day when super typhoon Yolanda flattened the tiny island belonging to the municipality of Daanbantayan.

Legend has it that Malapascua is the name given to the island by Spaniards whose ship ran aground there during bad weather on December 25, 1520. It’s “mal,” meaning bad, and “pascua,” meaning Christmas. Put together the name means “Bad Christmas.”

The waters around the island are known to be home to thresher sharks and manta rays. And Malapascua is famous as one of the top diving spots in the Philippines. Its wide, white, and pristine beach line has earned the accolade “Bounty Beach” by admiring tourists.

Owing to its natural beauty, tourism activities grew in the island. The islanders’ main source of income shifted from fishing and small-scale farming to employment at the resorts that had began to pop up everywhere. Engaging in tourism services proved to be a more rewarding livelihood.

Malapascua was fast becoming a favorite tourist destination. It was touted as a little paradise island, offering the standard comforts – and awesome sights, of course! – without the pressure of the quick-paced modern life. No wonder, everybody wanted to be in Malapascua.

But all that changed in November last year, just as the tourism bustle in the island was entering the high season. As tourists were finalizing their bookings with the resorts in the island, the super typhoon was making the media headlines.

The news reports said that it was going to be the strongest typhoon in the history to make a landfall. And, right, typhoon Yolanda destroyed almost everything, rendering Malapascua to its barest. Houses and other structures were flattened, trees swept away, fishing boats smashed – the whole island was brought to its knees. There were even reports of coral formations in shallow waters being crushed to smithereens. The resorts, badly destroyed, were forced to halt operations.

In the typhoon’s wrath, power, communication, and transportation facilities were lost; making it hard for people on the island to seek help or for help to come. As the days passed, food and water supply dwindled. Shelter from the cold was a problem, too; the people made do with tarpaulin and other such materials which they used as tents to keep them covered at night.

The resulting destruction was unbelievable. It destroyed almost everything in the island. But, surprisingly, it wasn’t able to shake the sense of hope in the Malapascua residents. In no time they began to rebuild their wrecked paradise, mend their broken lives.

The beauty of the island has also remained. Important tourism structures are rehabilitated. Malapascua braces itself again.

The tourism activities in the island have resumed. The island residents, the government and even the tourists themselves work together to bring Malapascua back on its feet. This is evidenced by the upsurge in the number of tourists to the island last summer, based on reports by the Department of Tourism.

Malapascua is, indeed, rising from the fall.