“I prayed that even if everything we had were destroyed, our lives be spared!”
An elderly resident of Barangay Botongan in the town of Estancia in Northern Iloilo only had time to grab her grandchildren and run for cover when the 300 kph winds ripped their house apart.
On November 7, 2013 the strongest typhoon to ever hit land levelled central Philippines in a matter of hours. Over 5,000 lives were lost and nearly 4.5 million residents have been displaced from their homeland. Three hundred million dollars’ worth of damage in agriculture and infrastructure was estimated by the national disaster authorities.
Diakonia responded with support for the immediate provision of food, water and fuel to affected communities. The Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC) which has its main office in Jaro, Iloilo reported that no one could reach the remote places of the affected towns because of debris and broken structures. CPBC coordinated with local authorities to utilize heavy equipment to transport food bags to the communities. They also mobilized volunteers from local hospitals and schools.
“There came many storms before, but this was something we have not seen in our lives…”
I visited some of the affected areas in northern Iloilo and Capiz provinces on January 2nd to the 4th. Rains continued to pour in the affected towns which have put up thin blankets or plastic sheets on their temporary shelters. A rainy weather is especially difficult for traumatized children as they continue to worry that the rain might suddenly turn into storm surges. Two months after Haiyan hit the country the people are still in shock at the devastation. Many of the affected populations do not own the lands on which their houses were built and therefore may face eviction or rejection of rebuilding plans. Those whose crops were grown on loan find themselves in debt again in order to grow another set of crops.
CPBC works with local church cooperatives and committees to coordinate relief efforts and conduct surveys of rehabilitation needs. International assistance finally reached Iloilo and Capiz after a month and people are slowly rebuilding their lives. Their most immediate concerns are construction materials especially with new storms approaching land, they needed to build sturdier structures or reconstruct better temporary shelters.
“Diakonia’s help through CPBC gave us comfort in knowing that people know what happened to us.”
Text and photo by Niza Concepcion
for the Diakonia Asia blog
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