STAR's Damayan distributes relief goods

MANILA, Philippines - The onslaught of typhoon “Ondoy” three years ago is still fresh in the minds of her five children, so when floodwaters started creeping into their home last Aug. 7, 38-year-old Rosa Pesonila panicked.

“My children were so frightened, especially the third one,” she said in Filipino. “He was trembling and crying, since he was the most traumatized by Ondoy.”

Their house in Armpack, San Mateo, Rizal, is situated along a river so floodwaters rose rapidly as heavy rain poured. Before they knew it, the water had risen by nearly two feet.

“We asked for help to remove the children. Soldiers came and one by one took the children. We evacuated to Sta. Maria School,” she said.

The Pesonilas are among the 36,000 families in San Mateo that were affected by flooding in Metro Manila and nearby provinces last week.

Last Tuesday, The STAR’s socio-humanitarian arm Operation Damayan, headed by Isaac Belmonte, head of The STAR Editorial Board, conducted a relief mission in Banaba Elementary School benefiting 1,000 families, including the Pesonilas.

Similar missions were held in Barangay Nagkaisang Nayon in Novaliches and in San Gabriel Elementary School in Area 10, District 2 in Sta. Lucia, both in Quezon City, led by Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte.

According to San Mateo Mayor Jose Rafael Diaz, some 5,000 to 8,000 of the 36,000 families, who were mostly living along the river, were evacuated due to the flooding.

“Many were affected by this nameless disaster – nameless because it was not even a typhoon and it had no name – because the flooding reached the inland. But only around 5,000 to 8,000 families actually required evacuation and gravely affected is (barangay) Banaba,” he told The STAR.

Banaba is the first barangay one reaches when coming from Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City, and it becomes a catch basin when the Marikina River overflows.

The other affected areas are Belong Compound, Pioneer, Baybay Sapa, North Libis, South Libis, Daang Bakal, Sta. Maria and Zamora.

“We were the most affected in the entire Calabarzon but there were no casualties (on our end),” Diaz added.

To minimize flooding in San Mateo, Diaz initiated in 2007 a reforestation program in the Marikina Watershed in a three-hectare lot in Pintong Bocaue. He hopes to replace the trees and other greenery lost to slash and burn farmers.

“We need to reforest. But there is a misnomer that Marikina Watershed is in Marikina. It is here in our town and we are the one implementing the reforestation program,” Diaz added.

The reforestation program is part of San Mateo’s 15-year development plan that aims to address irresponsible land use in the town.

“When this is completed, I think it will make a difference in terms of flooding in our area. We have to synchronize, we have to marry economics with the environment so we have to come up with feasible, sustainable economic condition that will preserve (the environment),” he maintained.

Damayan volunteers distributed slippers and grocery items including rice, canned goods, biscuits, powdered milk, cereal, coffee, sugar and noodles.

Fifty two-year-old Evelyn Laguindin of Calderon St., Sta. Lucia was grateful to Damayan for the support. “We’re really thankful for the help. It lessens our problems,” she said in Filipino.

Floodwaters totally submerged the Laguindin family’s two-story house.

“We did not save anything. When we saw the floods rising so quickly, we immediately evacuated. Now we have to start anew,” Laguindin said.

But this grandmother of two is very thankful that none of her family members were harmed.

“I’m happy we’re safe, especially my grandchildren. Life is more important,” she added.

List of Additional Donors

Embassy of Israel – P230,000.00

UP Alpha Phi Beta Chancery, Inc. headed by lord chancellor Chiz Escudero – P150,000.00

Atty. G. – P2,000.00

Jing Tiy – P1,000.00

RCBC Bankard holder – P200.00

Armand Magallanes – P3,000.00

PBA players – P90,000.00

Dem de Jesus – P5,000.00

Eduardo Javellana (Bankard) – P3,000.00