INC wraps up relief mission in Samar town

HERNANI, Eastern Samar, Philippines – Typhoon survivor Romy Cabacaba, his wife, Janeth and their six children rely on relief goods given by different groups that come to their village.

A few kilos of rice contained in every bag of relief goods they get from volunteers could last them for a week. 

Super Typhoon Yolanda flattened their house and that of their neighbors. Days later, they built a shanty made from wood scraps and tarpaulin marked “USAID” dropped by a helicopter delivering relief goods.

 Their new shack was beside the ruins of an old Hispanic church that had been destroyed by previous calamities. Next to it was a cemetery, which tombstones were dislodged and scattered into the main road and the plains below during the typhoon.

One Sunday morning, the family was elated as they received not one, but nine bags of relief goods. 

Mang Romy got the goods from the volunteers of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) who set up a relief distribution center near their shanty.

He lined up, not just once, thrice but several times, and each time he was given relief goods.

Each relief bag contained four kilos of rice, noodles and canned goods. The nine bags of relief goods could last them for a month or so.

The INC’s “Lingap sa Mamamayan” or “Aid to Humanity” went to this town on Dec. 1 – the last stop of its latest series of relief and medical missions for Yolanda survivors.

 On Nov. 27 and 29, it conducted a similar distribution activity in the cities of Ormoc and Tacloban, respectively.

At least 70,000 relief bags were distributed in Hernani, 80,000 in Ormoc and 120,000 in Tacloban.

About a thousand blankets donated by the Emirates Airlines were among those distributed through INC’s relief mission, in coordination with the Felix Y. Manalo Foundation Inc., INC’s charitable arm.

“All residents lost their livelihood such as fishing, copra and farming. We’re all back to zero,” said Hernani Mayor Edgar Boco.

“Had there been no help like this, we would surely be in trouble. This means a lot for the families who got not only one but several bags of relief goods,” he added.

Boco said the 200 motorized fishing boats had all been destroyed. Even his home was not spared from Yolanda’s fury.

Dolor Carolos of the town of General Mac-Arthur in Eastern Samar said their copra and almost all their coconut trees had been felled in the storm. She said it would take years for the surviving trees to recover.

Carolos’ townmate Romel Milan who came here with his seven-year old daughter praised the manner by which the INC’s relief mission was conducted.

“Everything was fast and orderly. They don’t discriminate. Everyone, including children received relief packs. No one went home empty handed,” Milan said.

 Sergie Santos of the FYM Foundation Inc., said the distribution of relief goods in Yolanda-battered towns and cities by INC’s Lingap sa Mamamayan project and the FYM Foundation was done in accordance with the directives of the INC administration.

Santos said the food packs could last a family more than a week. He said giving hope and spreading the message of INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo urging people to pray to God is the most important part of the relief mission.

 Doctors and medical volunteers conducted free check-up and gave out free medicine and vitamins for Hernani residents.

Those who sustained injuries received anti-tetanus shots.

The same medical group – who came from Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon and Cebu – earlier held a similar activity in Ormoc and Tacloban.

 Francisco Alaen, 70, was among those who receive medical attention from the group as his asthma worsened in the aftermath of Yolanda.

As the nebulizer eased up his breathing, Alaen could not stop worrying about the future for his family. His source of livelihood had vanished in the storm.

He recalled hiding with his family behind a huge rock on a mountain as Yolanda unleashes its fury on Nov. 8. They all survived, but not their house, their coconuts, and their fishponds.

“I couldn’t help crying. Not a single tree was left standing. My ready-to-harvest tilapia were gone in a matter of hours,” he said.

Boco, who is on his second term as mayor, said it would take a long time for his town to recover. He said they would need the help of the national government in order to get back on their feet.

“I haven’t seen such strong typhoon in my lifetime,” he said.

At least 72 bodies were recovered in Hernani, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

For the survivors, nothing could stop them, not even Yolanda, from going on with their lives. They said, they would continue to struggle until they are fully recovered.