A time to mourn

The Philippine STAR big boss, Miguel G. Belmonte asked the company editors, columnists, reporters and technicians to devote a few moments to silent praying for the victims of the devastating tropical storm Washi, locally called Sendong, in Northern Mindanao. The plea was made in an otherwise merry Christmas party featuring pirates and boats and fancy-free costumes. While we are partying, said Boss Miguel, we remember the people who perished, those who survived but are now hungry and homeless, the vast devastation of properties and infrastructure. He then announced that the next day, the STAR was launching a fund drive for the victims, through its Operation Damayan, which for many years has been bringing relief to victims of calamities. 

In the early morning hours of December 17, Sendong unleashed floodwaters from mountains and tributaries, and battered towns and cities in Northern Mindanao, Palawan and the Visayas, and Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, the two of which have been declared calamity areas. As of this writing, 1,000 have been reported dead – double the number of victims killed by typhoon Ondoy in 2009. The number of missing persons is still to be determined.

 STAR president and CEO Miguel Belmonte says Operation Damayan’s efforts this year will focus on rehabilitation and rebuilding, “especially the homes of our countrymen affected by the disaster.”

Cash donations from local donors may be deposited to The Philippine STAR Operation Damayan, c/o Metrobank Aduana Branch Savings Account No. 151-304-161622-9. (Please fax deposit slip to tel. no. 3019598, c/o Operation Damayan.)

*      *      *

The STAR’s front page yesterday showed the sad picture of navy personnel carrying donated caskets to be delivered to flood-affected provinces. The headline is of a national calamity having been declared by President Aquino. The brighter side of the story is that of the President’s announcement of many offers of assistance coming from other countries and of loans being available to those who need them.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) have been kept busy assessing the damage wrought by the tropical storm. The Philippine National Red Cross, headed by Chairman Richard Gordon, immediately rushed to the ravaged communities, bringing relief goods and medicines.

Meanwhile, on behalf of the Philippine Humanitarian Country team and the international humanitarian community, acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator Soe Nyunt-U is appealing for support to help the Philippine government give life-saving assistance to the calamity victims. The priority needs, he says, are water, food, sanitation and hygiene services and facilities, temporary shelter and debris clearance.  Dr. Soe visited Cagayan de Oro cities and met with government and aid-organizations in the affected areas.

*      *      *

Text messages have been running wild, informing people of the disaster, some mourning the deaths of friends and relatives. My sister, Milagros Antonio, texted from Gingoog City, saying a friend of hers, together with her aunt and uncle, were unable to open the door of their house and drowned from the ravaging waters that engulfed their community.

*      *      *

Washington, D.C. journalist Rita Gerona Adkins shared with friends the experiences her brother Salvador and his family in Iligan City went through. She wrote, “One brother — the one whose property stretches from the deathly swollen river to the slightly elevated highway — managed to save his children and grandchildren by climbing up to his one-story, roofless office building, where they and other 198 rain-soaked neighborhood residents stayed and survived. But some of his construction workers and their families perished underneath the muddy waters that crept and swallowed them in the night or got battered by the logs that destroyed their homes.’’

“The air now smells — mabaho na,” Rita’s Manila-based sister said over a long distance call.  Probably from dead bodies strewn all over the place.

*      *      *

A couple of years ago my husband and I were guests at Salvador (Badoy) Gerona’s nice house in Iligan. Badoy has been in the construction business for some time and is well known in the city for his socio-civic involvements.  At the time he was proudly telling us about a resort he was constructing along a riverbank a few kilometers from his home. The resort drew so many visitors, from the locals to out-of-towners. The resort is gone now, cruelly swept away by floodwaters. I texted Badoy to find out how he was faring.

Badoy wrote that on the morning of the flash floods, 214 had been confirmed dead, 400 were still missing, 6,000 households affected, and 22,000 people rendered homeless. “Our office where the whole Gerona family evacuated, together with 196 young and old neighbors, was spared from the raging floods. The waters rose to 22 feet, and the current along the highway was carrying the houses away for six hours, from midnight till dawn. Some people survived by clinging to trees and electric posts.”

Badoy’s spirits remain high despite his losses. Some assistance has come his way and that of the survivors staying in his office building. He texted me this message: “The finest hour in our life is when we have done good things to nameless people without expecting them to repay our acts of love and kindness . . . Thank God who protects those who trust in Him (Psalm 91). If you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High, no harm will come upon you, no disaster will draw near your tent.”

*      *      *

My good friend Bai Norhata Alonto and her husband, former Ambassador Datu Abul Khar Alonto, were in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when they learned about the flash floods. First thing they did was hop into the first available flight to Manila, then board the first flight to Cagayan de Oro City, and rush to Dau street in Hinaplanon, Iligan City. They could hardly recognize the place: debris and mud and fallen trees. The most harrowing story she told was, “We almost lost our son,” Bai Norhata said in her text message. Her son, Fiscal Abdul Gaffur, 35, braving swift waters, managed to move to safety his wife Ayesah Macumbal Alonto, his two daughters Ainonah and Anya Remah, his wife’s nieces Hanimai and Shamina, and his bilas, Sultan Bashari Mapupuno. “My son was so exhausted that he almost drowned.” But there came a story of unbelievable courage. “Abdul’s wife, thank Allah, forgetting that she did not know how to swim, jumped into the water to save him, and she did save him, but nearly got killed when the firewall fell on her. Abdul and his wife lost everything, their house and even his Montero sports car.”

Bai Norhata says she has no figures on Muslim casualties as yet. “There are many of these Muslim victims, but they are too shy to stay in refugee centers. That’s why they don’t get a share of the aid that comes.”

*      *      *

My e-mail: [email protected].