Davao cop not losing hope after ‘Pablo’ tragedy

MANILA, Philippines - His house was destroyed by typhoon “Pablo.” Yet Senior Police Officer 2 Julieto Limcatson never wavered in his faith and kept on believing that everything happens for a reason.

“I hope this trial will never happen again,” Limcatson said in an interview with The STAR.

Like what happened to most houses in Barangay Batiano, Baganga, Davao Oriental, a coconut tree uprooted by the storm fell on his house, destroying everything inside.

“Hope springs eternal. I know we can all recover from this. I‘m glad all the members of my family were safe,” he said, sounding optimistic.

Limcatson, 43, is trying to rebuild his life like his over 300 colleagues in the Philippine National Police (PNP) who lost everything when Pablo barreled into Mindanao two weeks ago.

He said his family would still celebrate Christmas, though it would not be as festive as before.

“Maybe because of the calamity, Christmas would not be as happy for us. However, I thank the Lord that my family remains complete despite what happened,” he said.

Days before Pablo struck and after learning of the storm warning, Limcatson brought his whole family to the house of his mother-in law in another town. He then proceeded to the Baganga police station, about five kilometers away from his house, to render duty for the entire day last Dec. 4.

A day after the typhoon, Limcatson asked his superior to allow him to check on his house. Soon as he arrived, he saw his home almost flattened to the ground by the coconut tree. It took him three more days to remove the tree since he had to help first in the relief and rescue operations for other typhoon victims.

“At the moment, we have a makeshift house that my children and I built from wood and logs that we salvaged from the storm,” said Limcatson whose youngest son is just seven months old.

The police officer was grateful for the assistance extended by the government and the PNP in particular.

PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome personally handed over to him P10,000 which he used to rebuild their house.

He admitted he could not yet buy galvanized iron sheets for their roofs because the hardware is too far and the fare would cost double.

Although he has a stable job, Limcatson is worried for his other relatives who could hardly make both ends meet even before the typhoon struck.

“What’s going to happen to them if relief efforts end? I don’t know how I could help them,” he said.

Limcatson, who has been in the service for 14 years, noted that 70 percent of the Baganga police were affected by Pablo. The station has 32 men.

For his part, Bartolome said they are fortunate that no PNP personnel died in the tragedy. However, two policemen are currently being treated at the hospital due to injuries they sustained during relief and rescue operations.

He said PO1 Eddie Aninion had a deep cut in the neck from an iron sheet while SPO1 Ryan Singcol suffered two broken ribs. Both are declared out of danger.

As part of his last official duty as PNP chief, Bartolome revisited the badly damaged Compostela Valley to personally hand over P3 million in financial assistance to the victims.

The amount was part of the P7.7 million donation of 154,000 PNP personnel, who gave P50 each.

Bartolome tasked Chief Superintendent Jaime Morente, Southern Mindanao Police regional director, to properly manage and equally distribute the money to policemen affected by Pablo.

He said the other P2 million was turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the other typhoon victims.