Post yolanda (typhoon haiyan) relief operations in cooperation with various organizations funded by the Tsinoy community and international donors ...
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post yolanda (typhoon haiyan) relief operations
in cooperation with various organizations
funded by the Tsinoy community and international donors
photographs by Jay Gonzales, Baldwin Kho,
Ganny Tan, Tessy Ang See, Luisa Ng 1
calapan, mindoro
10 NOVEMBER 2013
O
ne day after Typhoon Yolanda, Kaisa
already received a damage report and
a request for relief packs from the
Southern Tagalog Coalition, a non-profit group
serving the southern Tagalog provinces of
Mindoro, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas.
Volunteers immediately headed to Calapan,
Mindoro, two days after the typhoon hit.
Although not in the news, and destruction not
as massive, residents still needed to receive
food packs as all their crops were washed out,
and there was nothing to eat.
Residents were immediately able to put their houses back up as most of those in the mountains were made
only of nipa (a native palm).
Goods were distributed directly from the truck. Communities in the outlying areas sent group leaders to
represent families. Group leaders received the relief packs and rowed back to the islands.
2
packing
of relief
goods for
northern
iloilo
P acking of relief goods
was conducted by the
Iloilo Multisectoral Business
Organization and the Sta
Maria Catholic Women’s
Association. They prepared
4,470 packs for distribution
to towns in northern Iloilo.
Each pack contained rice,
sardines and drinking water.
Also distributed the
communities were
analgesics and anti-diarrhea
tablets as well as water
purifiers.
3
Concepcion, Northern iloilo
13 NOVEMBER 2013
4
I
t took us three hours by land
to reach the Municipality of
Concepcion from Iloilo City
and 40 minutes to reach
outlying island of Polo Pina by
pumpboat. This does not include
the loading and unloading time.
Hence, it was low tide when
we arrived and it would take
too much time to unload 700
packs to the shore. We asked
the people to approach the
pumpboat instead and they
started a mad rush to us. We
stood still on the boat until
people were lined up and
passed the relief packs by relay.
The elderly were asked to stay
on the shore to receive their
packs.
5
6
Estancia, Northern iloilo
14 NOVEMBER 2013
T
ravel time, four hours by land to reach
Estancia from Iloilo City. We went to
Botongan and distributed to 1,200
families whose houses were not just totally
wrecked but the oil spill from a beached
barge was causing respiratory diseases to
children. Again, despite the barangay heads
and social workers, it was a chaotic situation
because people were frantic for food.
We were accompanied by police personnel
during all of our relief missions. Along the
way, we dropped off relief packs at all the
police outposts for the policemen and their
families, most of whom are involved in rescue
operations and could not line up to get any
relief packs themselves.
7
There was no electricity, water or phone signals in Northern fuel, physically visiting outposts just to communicate and call
Iloilo (up to time of writing). At Estancia, Kaisa volunteer for augmentation.
Tessy Ang See was informed by provincial police commander
Cornelio Salinas that he had no communication base to get At Estancia, the relief packs were deposited at a totally
in touch with his men and to help keep order in northern devastated chapel, one of the few structures with walls after
Iloilo where people are starting to get restive. Ang See the typhoon.
immediately gave him the P60,000 needed to repair two
radio bases (from left over parts and new antennae and The chapel filled up with relief goods that people had to line
battery) so that police officers do not waste valuable time and up outside the parish to receive their packs, handed to them
through the door.
8
sara, Northern iloilo
15 NOV 2013
S
ara, Iloilo was one of the more organized
areas. The councilor gave us a list with the
names of the head of the household and
barangay arante if the household is totally damaged or partially
damaged. This mission was conducted with
the help of Narzalina Lim, former Secretary of
Tourism who is from Iloilo.
barangay bakabak
Barangay # of families
Arante 100
Bakabak 99
Domingo 75
Ilawod 59
Improgo 50
Juaneza 100
Malapaya 100
Market 98
Padios 104
San Luis 100
Tady 100
barangay bakabak
9
barangay barangay domingo domingo barangay ilawod barangay ilawod barangay improgo barangay improgo 10
barangay tady
barangay juaneza
barangay market
barangay tady
Because the municipal government had organized
its constituents well, distribution was done quite
efficiently and orderly at Sara where distribution
lasted well until evening. Travel back to the city was
dangerous at this point because except for the truck’s
headlights, and burning debris, there were absolutely
no lights anywhere.
barangay tady
11ajuy, Northern iloilo
20 NOV 2013
I
n cooperation with the Iloilo Citizens Action
Group Volunteer Fire Brigade, Kaisa distributed
2,000 relief packs to the coastal town of Ajuy.
The first stop was Crossing Ubos where people were
already waiting for us. Distribution was orderly. Ten Distribution at
Crossing Ubos
people at each time approached the distribution
line.
Distribution at
Crossing Ubos
police escort in front of our van. heading
from iloilo city to ajuy
12The next stop at Pantalan Bae greeted us with
total destruction and debris. Everything was
flattened; people said they were sleeping
under the night sky, rain and all.
volunteers assess destruction at
Pantalan Bae in preparation
for rehabilitation efforts
13All the barangays assigned a group leader who led his
barangay-mates into the town proper to receive their
relief packs. A ten-wheeler truck brought the 2,000 packs
inside pails. As the town was small and full of debris,
the truck could not enter. Thus, a smaller dump truck
(used to haul garbage) was used to ferry the goods from
the ten-wheeler to the distribution site. Beneficiaries
patiently lined up for almost three hours to get their
share.
14headed to Binonganan-an
Island, Ajuy, Northern Iloilo
volunteer Baldwin Kho gives an impromptu counselling
The last stop was an outlying island of session with some children at Binonganan-an
Binongonan-an, 30 minutes by pumpboat. It was
so inaccessible, it took us two hours to get there.
People were first loaded into a small banca,
which was physically pushed by three men to
a waiting pumpboat. The motorized pumpboat
then took us to Binongonan-an, with 100
households. Only one concrete house of a resort
owner remained standing, and served as the
evacuation center for the barangay’s population,
as well as the distribution center for our efforts.
15roxas city, capiz
Province of Capiz
22 NOV 2013
T
he team headed by land from
Iloilo City to the province of
Capiz. Travel time took almost
two hours.
The Philippine Red Cross has already
organized on-the-ground support for
all towns in Capiz. All donor agencies
are accompanied by Red Cross
personnel. There were 10 Red Cross
personnel assigned to accompany
our team for the entire trip. With
organized assistance, we were able
to serve four towns in one day.
Photos here are only of Ivisan Town
and Roxas City.
16municipality of Ivisan
roxas city
briefing for beneficiaries
17T PALO, LEYTE
his is one of the most difficult
relief works in my entire 20
years in volunteering. pagbaba
ko pa lang ng (as i got off the) 28 NOVEMBER 2013
airplane destruction all around us...
it is hard to accept yun nakikita
ng dalawang mata ko... so much
suffering. wasn’t able to take good
pictures because hindi nakakatuwa
ang mga nakita ko noon araw
na yun (it was difficult to take
anything)
until today, naiisip ko parang
kulang yun dinala namin (until
today, i think we did not bring
enough) considering the volume
of food items and the effort of the
volunteers in Manila and those who
join the ground works.
if our forefathers fought side by
side with the Pinoy for Philppines
independence in the past; ating
panahon ngayon ...sama sama pa
rin tayo sa hirap at ginhawa... (it is
our time now, we are still together
in hard times and good times).
--baldwin kho, kaisa volunteer
18TACLOBAN, LEYTE
taken from the plane window
19Distributed relief packs in Palo, Leyte • 130 families Barangay Cabarasan, Guti Guti • 652 Families Barangay San Joaquin • 475 families Barangay Tacuronga The destruction is too much. “It is not how much we give,it is the message of sodidarity that counts; let our kababayan know they are not alone ...” -baldwin kho 20
It seems that everywhere we go, there is little
organization. Even areas where local officials
survived were barely organized.
But I feel that it is because all of them are in shock.
They cannot seem to even think about what to do
first.
When we got to Palo, we had to organize
everyone. Only one barangay organized anything
and people had claim stubs. The claim stubs are
standard. It lets the donor know that this person
is a beneficiary. The local officials should be the
one to identify beneficiaries to ensure equitable
distribution. The DSWD tent had a list of barangays
and evacuation centers. The list also indicated
which ones have already been given relief packs.
Other than that, it was quite chaotic.
We distributed Kaisa claim stubs at the site. Doing
so doubled the time it took to distribute the relief
packs. Everyone was cooperative though, so that
was a good thing.
--field report from Ganny Tan
2122
Preparation/ coordination for distribution in Palo If we want to continue relief in Leyte, DSWD said supplies
25-26 Nov can be sourced from some parts of Samar, parts of which is
relatively unscathed. Easier to transport to Leyte rather than
DSWD Tacloban confirmed that San Joaquin, a coastal from Manila to Leyte.
Barangay in Palo, Leyte, suffered many casualties. Half of the
goods by trucking will be given there, plus 3-tons of other UPDATE:
goods of WedPro, which we will bring to Palo, Leyte on the The truck from Manila arrived in Leyte quite early because it
truck paid for by Kaisa. was granted a priority pass. Early Nov 27, the truck entered
Tacloban and proceeded to Palo. Distribution of goods
Choy Mendoza of DSWD Tacloban will coordinate with commenced Nov 28. Meanwhile, the tents from Xiamen,
Mayor Petilla for Kaisa’s own distribution in Palo, Leyte China donated by Rosita Tan did not arrive until Nov 30,
-- she recommends barangay captain ERA of Tacuranga and which is a Philippine holiday and a Saturday. The entire
barangay captain NAIDA of Canhidoc -- both in Palo. Anabel Dec 2 was spent coordinating with the airport and with the
has been coordinating with Mayor Matin Petilla already as to warehouse trying to get a discount for the warehousing fees.
the recipients. Kaisa representative, Nora Gonzales, argued that the sender
was not aware that it was a holiday. Further, the tents are
The tents from Xiamen will be flown in probably Nov 26 or 27 meant to be delivered straight to Leyte where they are badly
and from NAIA straight to Tacloban. We estimate distribution needed, thus should not be charged any fees. Taxes were
of 100 tents on Nov 28. Hopefully the truck from Manila will waived but the warehouse insisted on charging more than
arrive for distribution Nov 29. P20,000 for holding the goods for two days. N.Gonzales was
finally able to negotiate a 50 percent discount.
2324
25
Baldwin, Ganny and I agree that though Tacloban is dismal…
being a city, the people there are not the impoverished ones.
The destruction is massive but these are to concrete buildings
whose owners are not really the poor. Travelling one hour
to Tanauan, Leyte, we saw the comparable devastation to
Northern Iloilo coastal towns... where as far as the eyes can
see, no structures remain standing… only hills upon hills
of debris that have not been cleaned up. This was the road
to Sto. Nino, Tanauan, recipient of the 100 tents from China.
Even Palo, Leyte where we distributed relief goods to 3
barangays is not as bad as Tanauan. (Palo is one hour from
Tacloban and Tanauan is another hour away).
The last Barangay we went to in Palo Leyte (Tacuranga) just
buried three unidentified dead uncovered from debris just
hours before we arrived
Ganny and Baldwin were happy that the roll of tarpaulin
they brought and the one I brought to Tacloban were put to
good use immediately by volunteers. It is heartwarming to
see an Israeli and an Iranian working side by side to put the
tarpaulin as roof to houses. Even the house where Ganny and
Baldwin stayed has rain water dripping all over the place with
pails catching the worst. AND, there are sudden downpours
so tarpaulins are very very necessary. Unfortunately, when
they reached Cebu, they couldn’t find tarpaulins anymore
there and brought only one roll. I also brought one roll
debriefing and assessment with difficulty because there are no porters in terminal 3.
Fortunately, the guards willingly helped me. Kaisa helped
purchase the nails, saws, hammers that the volunteers were
using as they work with the American, Israeli, Iranian and
Bolivian – yes, a united nations of volunteers – Baldwin called
them true heroes.
One important discovery – Tacloban mosquitoes are not
affected by insect repellent. We are all pockmarked with
mosquito bites.
26 After Ground 0 -- Tessy Ang Seemandala peace workshop | 18 November 2013
S
tudents gathered at the Kaisa Heritage
Center, 18 Nov for a Mandala Peace Arts
Workshop and a Peace Pole ceremony
facilitated by Mario Fungo of the World
Peace Prayer Society.
Participants wrote words of love and peace in
a circular pattern, reinforcing the meaning of
the words.
The peace pole is a
monument that
displays the message “May Peace Prevail on
Earth in the language of the country where it
is placed. Baldwin Kho gifted to Kaisa the peace
pole he had been granted for his work in promoting
world peace through art and charitable work.
Around the peace pole, Fungo led an ecumenical prayer for
world peace with special intention for the Philippines. 27You can also read
