MANILA, Philippines - CNN anchor Anderson Cooper marveled at the strength of Filipinos amid the death and devastation in the wake of Super Typhoon Yolanda and thanked them “for showing us all how to live.â€
In his “Reporter’s Notebook†broadcast, Cooper said covering disasters, where “everything else is taken away broken and battered, stripped raw, stripped bare – you see things, you see people as they really are.â€
“This week in Tacloban, Samar and Cebu, amidst the hunger and thirst, the chaos and confusion, we’ve seen the best in the Filipino people. Their strength, their courage – I can’t get it out of my mind,†Cooper said.
“Imagine the strength it takes for a mother to search alone for her missing kids, the strength to sleep on the street near the body of your child,†he said.
“You’ve seen people with every reason to despair, the right to be angry, instead find ways to laugh, to love, to stand so up, to move forward. A storm breaks wood and bone, brings hurt and heartbreak†but it cannot break the spirit of a people.
Amid the atmosphere of death and destruction, Cooper said this “is not the end of the story†as far as Filipinos are concerned.
“With aid and assistance, compassion and care, this place, these people, they will make it through, they’ve already survived the worst.â€
“They’re bowed perhaps, tired and traumatized, but they are not broken. Mabuhay Philippines, maraming salamat for all you’ve shown us. Maraming salamat for showing us all how to live,†he said.
Cooper earlier responded to criticisms from President Aquino and ABS-CBN broadcaster Korina Sanchez regarding his coverage of the aftermath of Yolanda, where he pointed out the slow government response.
He noted Aquino’s call to local and foreign media to be accurate in their reporting, and show the resiliency of Filipinos during times of crises.
“We certainly appreciate that counsel, accuracy is what we strive for…I would actually say that all week long, in every report we’ve done, we’ve shown how strong the Filipino people are,†Cooper said.