By Santosh Digal
Manila: Faith and resilience with the support of donors has helped Filipino people to bounce back after Typhoon Yolanda 2013 devastated their lives, says Caritas Manila, the social service arm of the Catholic Church in the Philippines.
Caritas Manila helped 192,144 families through relief and rehabilitation efforts. It constructed and repaired 120 houses, reconstructed 74 chapels and churches and three convents, provided 175 fishing boats and fishing equipment, distributed 1,300 faring tools and implements and provided 1,017 scholarships to students.
This was revealed by Father Anton C T Pascual, executive director of Caritas Manila, in a Yolanda Transparency Report 2016.
“The report encapsulates the utmost generosity of our benefactors—highlighting how far their support, both cash and in-kind, went. We also want to take this as a platform for extending our deepest gratitude and appreciation for their continuing support and assistance,” said Father Pascual.
An affected fisherman, Emmanuel Cabukit from Samar province, said, “When the typhoon came, my wife and I agreed to stay and guard the house after sending our children to the highest commercial building nearby only two blocks away from where they lived.”
As the storm surged destroyed their home, they managed to stay alive by tying themselves to an electric post. Two hours later, as the water subsided, their children ran back to their house in tears, thinking that their parents had become victims of the storm as well, Cabukit recalled.
Their fishing boats were washed away, along with all their other means of livelihood. But they were thankful that their entire family had survived.
Through the Caitas Manila they were able to get through the most crucial weeks of the disaster and began to rebuild their home, Cabukit said.
On November 5, 2013, Yolanda (international name Haiyan) hit the country. Filipinos initially took to be just another typhoon out of the 20 that hit the country annually.
Yolanda raged its way through the Philippines, leaving behind a path of death and destruction. Concluded as the most powerful storm to make landfall in recorded history, Yolanda affected 3,424,593 families in nine regions with a causality of 6,193 (people dead), according to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council as of April 2014.
Some 28,689 were injured, 1,061 are still missing and affected 3.4 million families of 12,139 villages, 44 provinces, 591 municipalities and 57 cities.
The typhoon sustained winds of 235 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 275 kilometers per hour. Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes to seek shelter at schools, churches and government buildings.
The 20-foot waves destroyed not only livelihood and infrastructures, but took away precious lives. The storm lasted two days and a state of national calamity was declared. The storm subsided then, but the tragedy was long awaited. Survivors had to face the aftermath of the strongest typhoon in the history of the Philippines.
Once the floods had receded and families emerged from hiding, there was little left of their homes but piles of splintered wood, fragments of concrete, and the rotting corpses of those died. In the aftermath, thousands needed food, shelter and medical aid and rehabilitation later a long away. But with impassable roads, no available electricity and means of communication, things became worse.
Since November 2013 showed the Filipino’s resilience and indomitable spirit as help started pouring in from around the globe, and those who survived began their journey to build their lives again, with the support of Caritas Manila.
The aftermath of Yolanda was “the hardest parts of our lives that our faith is truly tested. And it was during the course of this calamity that the world was able to witness the admirable strength of faith of our Filipino community,” Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, wrote in Yolanda Transparency Report 2016.
“Cities and barangays (villages) that were once in complete ruins have been restored. Many forms of livelihood that were lost are now reinstated. Disaster-stricken communities have been rebuilt through the perseverance of the survivors and the generosity of the donors and volunteers who have dedicated themselves to serve those in need,” the cardinal said.
He also thanked one and all, and organizations that helped affect typhoon survivors “for staying strong in the face of this calamity and for working together to rebuild the lives and homes of those affected.
The affected dioceses were dioceses of Borongan, San Jose de Antique, Kalibo, Masbate, Naval, Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay, Archdioceses of Palo, Jaro, Capiz, and Cebu.
Pope Francis visited some affected regions during his visit in 2015.
Soon after the terrible typhoon affected the Philippines in 2013, he offered his prayers for affected people and urged all to help victims to rebuild their lives and livelihood.