I salute my fellow Warays’ unbreakable spirit

Unconscionable grief is written all over Eastern Samar’s people and all the people in the nearby provinces hurt, damaged and wounded by Typhoon Yolanda. Yet, despite the tragedy, the Waray spirit remains strong and unbreakable.

The Warays are known to be tough, brave and strong. Everyday, for more than a week now, Estehanon’s live a life of hardship — mas mahirap sa mahirap. There is no potable water to drink, no electricity, no crops to harvest, businesses are gone, no roofs over their heads and there’s no food for everyone. Everybody has to rely on relief supplied by government, private individuals and groups. The catastrophe is of epic proportion and it looks like there is not one word apt to describe it. Houses swept to the sea, roads and bridges destroyed, and even the churches of God were not spared. Nobody ever expected that Yolanda would be that cataclysmic. Warays are accustomed to typhoons. Samar is visited by typhoons, several times a year, but one like the magnitude of Yolanda was unexpected.

Yolanda’s eyes took sight of Guiuan as her first stop. Then, MacArthur, Salcedo, Sulangan, Mercedes, Hernani, Balangkayan, Llorente, Giporlos, Borongan and Sulat. Local governments prepared for the typhoon. They did the best they could to mitigate the damage. But Yolanda was horrendous — analysts say its strength was bigger and heavier than Katrina. Yolanda was, perhaps, the first typhoon of its magnitude to hit the earth.

Among the towns, Borongan suffered the least damage. Guiuan, Hernani, Balangkayan bore the brunt. “Nag-prepare kami. Naglibot kami han ngatan nga barangay to warn them of the super typhoon. Ngatanan nga agencies minobilize namon. An iba nga mga tawo gin pakadto namon han mga evacuation centers. Maswerte la kami kay waray kami kaura-ura compared to neighboring towns like Balangkayan or Hernani. (We prepared. We went to every barangay in the city to warn people of the super typhoon. We mobilized all the agencies. We sent people to evacuation centers. We are lucky we did not have much damage compared to the towns of Hernani and Balangkayan),” said Cora Basada assistant to my sister, Mayor Fe Abunda of Borongan City.

According to Cora, disaster teams were working 24 hours. “We were at the city hall. The mayor told us to bring with us our families so we won’t be worrying about them while we attend to our work.”

Two days after the typhoon, Eastern Samar was isolated from the rest of the world. Transportation went to a halt and communication systems were down. Everything was in shambles. “No water, no electricity, no signal.”

For about two days, the town roads were impassable. The road from Hernani town to Borongan was cut off. And so were the bridges connecting nearby towns of Salcedo to Guiuan. And the only mode of transport that could pass through damaged roads were the motorcycles.

“Everything was in darkness. Since the lines were cut off, we did not know what was happening to the outside world until the fifth day,” said Cora. Then they surveyed the damage. “Mag uuraw ka. There were no groceries left, waray mo mapapalit, waray tubig, waray ngatanan. (You’d weep. There was nothing to buy, no water, nothing at all.)”

The mayor and her team braved the rough roads and set out to Calbayog City to buy groceries, not just for her city but the neighboring towns as well. “We learned that some of the adjacent towns of Borongan were ravaged by the typhoon. That is why we have to help. Some of these towns have very low incomes. We just have to help everyone. Besides, Waray man nim mapapalit. Nauubos agad kung ano supply meron ka. (There is nothing that you can buy. Supply is fast running out.)”

Borongan, through its disaster outreach program, has been giving a helping hand to nearby towns. “We have been to Hernani, Balangkayan and Guiuan. We would bring firetruck na may tubig at truck na may relief goods. Siguro kun diri la bagyo, diri it mga tao mainum hit tubig galing hit firetruck. (If there was no storm, I don’t think people would drink water from the firetruck). But we tell them to boil the water first. We also give mineral water for the babies and mothers.”

Borongan posted eight casualties not from super typhoon but from an accident in a cargo ship that was swept away.

“Initially, ang pinakamalaking problema were the roads. But roads are better now. Cars from Borongan can now make their way to Guiuan.” Smart has also set up satellite phones in the capitol grounds of Borongan to provide free calls. There are difficulties in securing fuel but LGUs try to get by. “Everyday we go to different towns. We need fuel. And LGUs are given priority in the fuel supply.”

Cora said that in one of their visits to the Hernani town, she saw a woman who was hanging from the branch of a tree. “Four days after she was rescued, she died in the hospital. Due to infection of wounds, maybe.” There is also a shortage of medicine. “Antibiotics for coughs and colds, basic medicine.”

There is no truth to the rumor that looting and killing are rampant in Samar. “The people in Samar are disciplined. No looting, no stealing. If they are hungry, they will just wait for the supply but will not steal.” But she said that things will be better. “Samar will be able to recover. Maybe not as fast, but it will recover. Bulig, bulig la (Just ‘help, help.’)”

“Sometimes, stories can get muddled and things become complicated,” said Lara Togonon-de Castro of EnPraxis, an environmental planning organization based in Manila. Lara and her team traveled to Guiuan the day after Yolanda devastated Samar. She and a group of eight took the plane from Manila to Legaspi. From Legaspi, they hired a van that brought them to Samar. “We were prepared. But we did not know what to expect. We did not know how things will be when we decided to go to Samar,” said Lara. Her plan was to find out the status of all her relatives and friends who live in Samar bring immediate relief like food and medicine.

“The destruction in Samar is heartbreaking. Samar needs the help,” said Lara.

Lara, home from her weeklong trip to Samar, said that she will be back to help in the rehabilitation efforts. Her office now also serves as drop-off point for additional donations in the relief operations.

(Our Make Your Nanay Proud [MYNP] Foundation has relief operations specifically for Eastern Samar. You may visit the MYNP Facebook or our website at www.makeyournanayproud.com to find out how you can help.)