An atomic (water) bomb

The only way to describe Iligan is that an Atomic Bomb hit it.

Watching the extent of the damage and how hundreds or thousands of coconut trees all fell or bent towards only one direction, I suddenly remembered pictures of atomic bomb tests in the Bikini Atoll where the sheer force of the explosion was like a super storm or wind that blew down coconut trees just like in Iligan.

The only difference in Iligan was that the super flood or disaster left an unending signature of damage and victims.

This was not how I planned on visiting Iligan City or the province. I had hoped to come for a vacation or an adventure someday. Instead I went to Iligan to verify reports of how badly it was hit and to call national attention to their situation.

It is no exaggeration to say that the damage done by storm Sendong to Iligan is probably 5 to 10 times more than in Cagayan de Oro where the damage was largely concentrated along the rivers and city center.

In Iligan, the damage is so widespread it is almost hard to figure out where to begin. As you enter the city proper there are wider areas of destruction on both sides of the main highway, vehicles that were rolled, crumpled and drowned outnumber those we saw in Cagayan de Oro 5 to 1. Huge logs littered in open lots, imbedded into houses or piercing bridge joints were all over the place.

If we saw so many logs littering the river in Cagayan de Oro, what we saw in Iligan was the equivalent of trees that were being piled up in a logging concession. There were so many cut logs in Iligan you could have called it an urban lumber yard!

A photo provided to President Noynoy Aquino during his visit last week showed logs covering an area of 300 meters wide by three kilometers plus long. Tragically, everyone in the know agrees that the logs came from the ARMM area.

When we reached the city hall of Iligan, we were able to confirm reports that they were organized and were moving as fast as they could. What no one was willing to admit was that they are overwhelmed by the disaster. It’s a situation where the victims themselves are forced or needed to tackle the disaster. Since everyone in Iligan is a victim, they certainly need all the help they can get.

One example was Councilor Frederick Siao who brought us up to date on their relief efforts and personally drove us to several of the hard hit areas. During all that time, Siao was clearly concerned for his brother whose house was also flooded up to about nine feet high along with all their neighbors.

Siao personally brought us to several barangays starting in Barangay Mandulog, which seemed way up and outside the city proper. There we saw “Muslim” refugees calmly and quietly listening to the reassurance of DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman that P242 million had just been delivered to help rebuild communities and relocation sites.

While Secretary Soliman met up with the local elders and victims, Frederick Siao drove us further up the area where we saw vehicles of the United Nations and the Philippine Army delivering relief goods to even more victims who were too tired to walk and join the meeting with Dinky Soliman.

It was here that I learned of a huge bridge that had taken so long to build at such great expense, and finished only recently, that was totally washed away. Victims from Barangays Dulag and Lanipao were cut off. On the other side of the river Barangays Rogongon and Mainit were declared unreachable. After millions of pesos wasted or stolen in graft, people now rely on a solitary bamboo raft that was so new the poles were all green, to carry people and belongings across the wide river.

After driving up the rocky hilly areas, we went down to Orchid homes which people labeled as “Ground zero” of Iligan. This middle class residential community was not just flooded but totally destroyed by raging waters, mud and logs. The overall effect of the destruction of Orchid Homes was equivalent to that of a major hurricane.

The velocity and height of the water must have been so high that it literally ripped off roofs and broke down walls of so many houses. Unlike other affected areas, almost all the windows or openings of the houses were filled with tree branches, broken logs and debris. It looked like the dirt itself were climbing into houses like enemies on the attack.

After Orchid homes, we drove to an even bigger bridge now near the city center. Once again we saw hundreds of middle class homes sunk or covered in mud, cars abandoned, furniture dumped along the road. It was ironic how the 3,000 homeless families will all get a “clean” start at relocation areas, but the thousands of homeowners will now be spending at least three if not six months to make their homes and their communities livable.

In the course of this visit I met up with Mayor Lawrence Tan who welcomed and considered any and all suggestions that would ease the difficulty they were going through. I also met Bishop Galido who just like Mayor Tan displayed such humility and concern for his parish that I mistook him for a regular priest.

What became apparent to me was that they need all the help we can give, not only relief goods. They need all of us to stand with them, to work with them and simply to let them know we care enough to go to Iligan.

There are no special requirements needed, just the servant’s heart of a compassionate soul. Please Help Iligan, Act Now.

Thank you for following Ctalk and May GOD bless and prosper you with a Happy New Year!!!

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