PALO, LEYTE—It was dusk and Maria Jean Tanola, accompanied by her 4-year-old child, lingers in a patch of earth in front of the San Joaquin Church in this seaside town, one of the worst hit areas when Super Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Yolanda, barreled through the Visayas region on Nov. 8.
In this area where Tanola and her child stood lie the remains of her two children, along with more than 150 others who perished in calamity.
But amid the gloom around her, Tanola starts humming a familiar tune. While the merry sound of Christmas carol was barely audible, it was her way of consoling herself, hoping to provide cheer in an otherwise desolate landscape.
“I sing to ease my pain. I come here every day because I can still hear them calling me. I miss my children so much,” said Tanola, 44, one of the over 4 million people made homeless by the typhoon across the region.
The death toll has risen to over 6,100 with 1,779 missing and more than 16 million people still affected according to the latest report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and management Council (NDRRMC). The total estimated damaged from the typhoon was pegged at P 36 billion.
Tanola recalled that on the day of the tragedy, the almost 10-storey building sea water swept her two children away from her arms while other members of her family were able to climb the roof of the day care center, their supposed safe evacuation center in their barangay.
“ We thought we were safe. We thought we were okay inside the daycare center but we are doomed to suffer there. There is no way to escape really,” a teary-eyed Tanola said as she continues to sing softly.
With poverty and uncertainty on top of the monstrous devastation brought by the typhoon, millions of people in the most affected areas are facing exceptionally bleak Christmas and New Year – they suffer from lack of food, medical care, drinking water and adequate shelter.
A slow, long recovery
Rebuilding, recovery and reconstruction from the onslaught of the world’s strongest typhoon will be painstakingly slow, according to Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez.
“ It will not be easy for a city that lost scores of lives, damaged infrastructures and was left with almost nothing. Not only infrastructure have changed, even the environment and our daily lives have somewhat changed,” Romualdez lamented during the Post-Yolanda Recovery and Rehabilitation Planning this week.
Romualdez said that the city is now looking into the so-called “tsunami hazard map” which is more fitting from the destruction they saw in Tacloban City.
“ We have been looking for several maps before, including the ‘storm surge hazard map”, but the more fitting to destruction that happened was the tsunami hazard map. So now, there are areas that we need to put as danger zones in case of tsunami and it will affect the building design and zoning of different areas,” he said.
Romualdez said that one problem the city is confronting is that the city might not be able to provide resources anymore to the public such as resources for the police, hiring of more than 100 teachers allowances for the judges and the fiscals, as well as electricity for different police stations and public schools.
“ What I am seeing as a reality, a big problem that we have is that half of our income is derived from local taxes. For now, there is a need for the local government and the national government to work hand-in-hand. What is going to happen is that the city won’t be able to provide a lot of public resources anymore because we will be losing our income by almost 50 percent,” the mayor said adding that the problem will be relayed to rehabilitation Senator Panfilo Lacson, the newly appointed Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery.
Another major problem the city faces is the provision of water. The mayor said there are supposed to be more than 20,000 families relocated to the Northern Area of Tacloban but water is the problem.
“ Even before the typhoon, water is one of our big problem. We have to build a system to address our water problem…but that is costly. So we are presenting this also to the international investors as they have the financial means and technology,” he said.
Currently, the city’s top priorities are the survivors and their survival. While there are many national and international organizations jostling to help the city, the mayor said, adding that there is a need for the local government to start with the rehabilitation program and disaster management.
“ We now need to create a system that can also show transparency, we can also show to our donors that we are serious in planning for our immediate, mid-term and long-term projects. We are getting there, and we are organizing ourselves” Romualdez said.
Romualdez said that master plan for recovery and reconstruction will be submitted to Lacson.
Among the five pillars for recovery and sustainable development in Tacloban City are:
*built environment (housing, buildings, transport, water and sanitation, power, drainage and other infrastructure);
* social recovery (health, education, community support, culture)
* economic recovery (jobs, agriculture, tourism, business, investments)
* natural environment (water quality, forest, biodiversity)
* leadership and institutions ( governance, coordination, research, communication, funding, manpower)
Looking beyond grief and devastation
A survivor herself, Climate Change Commission Secretary Lucille Sering, has dedicated to supporting Typhoon Yolanda survivors and vowed to make a difference in her country. Days before Christmas, Sering visited devastated Tacloban City to assess the situation of recovery and rehabilitation as well as discussed to local government officials about climate change and disaster management plans in the area.
” It was very humbling. Made me realize how important it is for me to try my very best on my job. Most of all, as a survivor myself of many typhoons being from Surigao, I can relate and also share that there is really hope,” Secretary Sering said. “Yolanda (Haiyan) may serve as a reminder of our fragility, but it also serves as a source of strength. That as long as we continue to be together and help each other, there is nothing we can’t overcome.”
For Governor Joey Salceda, who governs the most disaster-prepared province of Albay, rebuilding lives safer and better, should be the focus of the local government as well as the national government after Typhoon Yolanda.
“ The people of Tacloban need our assistance for now. But for the long-term, the local government needs to review disaster contingency plans and quicker response,” Salceda said, who organized a humanitarian mission called “Team Albay” to Samar and Tacloban during the first week of disaster response to the most affected areas.
Salceda and Team Albay, are back in Tacloban City and in Easter part of Samar to distribute relief goods and spend Christmas with the survivors. It is one of its toughest ever humanitarian assistance tasks, he said.
“ Let us help build a new Tacloban, a new Waray Nation. But we need to build it better and safer. People should feel that they are safe and that they have livelihood. Let us give cash to the survivors not only food to give them more autonomy and purchasing power,” Salceda said. “It is important to rebuild stronger infrastructure such as schools, hospitals. Tent cities are not supposed to be a permanent settlement as they can be dehumanizing. Build a community, even with small bunk houses, in safer, higher grounds. Let’s not make another mistakes. Lessons should also be learned from this disaster.”
International aid response
If there is a silver lining to the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, it is the overwhelming response of the international community to the disaster.
Just this week, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Tacloban City. He urged the international community to scale up support for the massive typhoon recovery plan under way in the Philippines, where the Government-led effort that is helping millions of people rebuild their lives must be underpinned by measures to improve the country’s preparedness and resilience to natural disasters.
“We must not allow this to be another forgotten crisis,” said Mr. Ban in a statement. “I have come to show solidarity with the Government and people of the Philippines.”
The UN chief wrapped up his three-day visit to the country by calling on the donor community to step up support for an overall four year plan that will help to revive livelihoods and rebuild large swaths of the archipelago that were destroyed on 8 November when Super Typhoon Haiyan swept ashore, killing nearly 6,000 people and displacing millions more.
He said that Government’s strategic plan, amounting to some $8.17 billion over four years, was launched on 18 December to guide the recovery and reconstruction in the affected areas. The plan aims to restore the economic and social conditions of the affected areas at the very least to pre-typhoon levels and to create a higher level of disaster resilience.
Pledging the UN’s support to that overall strategy, the Secretary-General said the Organization and its partners have launched a one-year Strategic Response Plan for nearly $800 million dollars.
“Aid deliveries have been scaled up significantly. More than 4 million affected people have now received food assistance. Some 100,000 hygiene kits and 65,000 water kits have been distributed, and 30 water treatment units are in place. More than 200,000 households have received emergency shelter,” the UN chief explained.
He went on to say that cash assistance has also been provided to help people rebuild damaged and destroyed houses. More than 180 foreign and national medical teams have provided emergency health aid and nearly 260 mobile clinics are now functioning. In addition, he said that more than 40,000 children have been screened for acute malnutrition.
“Rice seeds have been distributed to more than 10,000 farming households so far. Our aim is to ensure that at least 72,000 hectares can be planted, so the vital upcoming 2014 harvest is not lost, said the Secretary-General, noting that, in the longer term, the UN will continue to work with the Government on its development priorities.
Hope is bright
More than a month after Typhoon Yolanda, millions of survivors are clinging to their faith that a new life will be better.
“ I am very hopeful that we can surpass this challenge in our life. As long as my family is complete, we are together this Christmas and new Year even when we have nothing we are still happy,” said Abigail Cajeles, 20.
Cajeles, mother of two, said their situation is tough as they cope with poverty and survival after the typhoon destroyed their small house, livelihood and everything they possess were gone.
“ We are still in shock. But we will go on with our lives. We will try to celebrate the birth of Christ like we used to,” Cajeles said.
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