EDITORIAL - A test of the Filipino spirit

Although super typhoon Yolanda caused huge damage to property when it barreled through northern Cebu the other day, the good news is that authorities were able to control the human toll.

As of this writing, only a couple of deaths were reported in Cebu despite the onslaught of the world's most powerful typhoon this year. And we hope the number won't increase as government disaster agencies comb areas that were hit, especially those in the northern part of the province.        

The low casualty can largely be attributed to the readiness of the Cebuanos. Before the typhoon made landfall in the northern towns, precautionary measures were already being implemented.

Good thing Cebuanos were vigilant and had cooperated. Across the province, thousands living along the coastal areas heeded calls for them to seek refuge in safer places.     

Despite the low casualty, damage to property and government infrastructure was severe. In Daanbantayan, Medellin and neighboring areas, the damage was reported to be unimaginable.    

This is expected during an onslaught of a typhoon as powerful as Yolanda, which international weather experts said was far stronger than hurricane Katrina, the notorious storm that submerged New Orleans few years ago.

While Cebuanos' hearts go out to those badly affected areas where the death toll is high, they were at ease with the fact that, at the very least, they were spared from further human damage. 

In any calamity, colossal losses are always expected. And typhoon Yolanda was just one of those catastrophic events that challenged the Filipino spirit as to how far we could go as a nation.    

Of course, in every typhoon or earthquake, we always learn to bounce back. What makes us the most resilient people on earth is that we always know how to rise, shake off the dirt and move forward amid death and destruction.