Bantayan Island 9 days after the typhoon

On Nov. 10 two days after Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) passed violently through Central Visayas, the Rotary Club of Cebu (mother) went immediately to Bogo City 100 kms north of Cebu City and we were awed at the devastation wrought by Yolanda. At that time, we couldn’t break through to Daanbantayan yet because of debris, fallen trees and power lines along the road. But at least we had a bigger picture of the devastation that happened north of Cebu.

I was in Manila last Friday evening for the 13th Grand Wine Experience, which was already scheduled and it was a great way to take the opportunity to beg for relief aid from friends. Friends like Bobby Joseph, Marietta Cuyegkeng and Celine Gatmaitan responded overwhelmingly that including from my own funds, which already filled my pickup truck, I had to borrow my brother’s pickup truck so we could go to my wife’s hometown, Bantayan Island, where we had to cross from Hagnaya, San Remigio. It was 9 days already since the super typhoon struck.

I called my dear friend, Alex Tan, owner of the Island Shipping Corp. for arrangements to cross and he warned me that traffic along the Port in Hagnaya and in Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island was nearly double that during the high season of Holy Week. We left Cebu City while it was still dark hoping to catch the earlier roll-on, roll-off. We got there by 6 a.m. and indeed it was to say the least, chaotic! We were able to take the 9:30 a.m. Island Ferry vessel and crossed to Bantayan in good weather. Thanks Alex!

As we arrived in Sta. Fe, one can immediately see the devastation that destroyed nearly all the beach resorts in Sta. Fe with only one standing, the Anika Beach Resort of my golf buddy Nelson Yuvallos. His resort was perhaps the sturdiest built because it was made from container vans and bolted into cement column buried deep into the sand. The others didn’t fare well.

The municipality of Sta. Fe was in tatters, but the Catholic Church was not damaged, but the Philippine Independent Church across it was destroyed. In the municipality of Bantayan, my wife’s old house (built by her grandfather Angel Cabatigan) was unfazed. But a few meters up ahead, a whole house fell on its side blocking the entire road. But the roof of her maternal home was blown off. The house of singer Verni Varga (she’s from the Mabugat family) was spared. But as we went up 12 kilometers further north to the municipality of Madridejos, it was 85% devastated. Trees bigger than houses were blown away and 90% of its poultry production destroyed.

If there was a huge consolation for me… I did meet a lot of friends while waiting for the ferry and they all told me that they were going to Bantayan Island on their own to deliver relief goods to the people who need them. The only NGO that was there at that time was the Fully Abled Nation (FAN) of JP Maunes who were out to help Persons with Disabilities (PWS) in the North of Cebu. I did see two dump trucks from the municipality of Balamban, giving out relief goods and the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) lined up its members in front of the church in the town of Bantayan.

At least nine days after the devastation, the local governments have cleared up the roads to allow international relief efforts easy access to the typhoon ravaged areas. The State of Israel was one of the first ones who arrived in Mactan Airbase. They flew in an El Al Boeing 747 and they immediately went to Bogo and erected a field hospital by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in front of the Severo Verallo Memorial District Hospital and people immediately lined up for their medical checks.

Returning back to Sta. Fe Port only revealed another choke point in bringing disaster relief to the area. I guess there were not enough ro-ro vessels to accommodate the influx of vehicles (mostly private sector led) bringing relief goods to the island. While in the town of Bantayan, I saw a Lockheed P-3 Orion surveillance plane flying very low. This was the first time I saw a visible presence of the US military in the area. I gathered from Freeman reports that the Royal Navy Ship HMS Daring also arrived in Cebu last weekend to help in the foreign relief efforts.

As I arrived back in Hagnaya Port, I saw a German delegation with two huge trucks complete with equipment for Bantayan Island. We simply cannot thank our international community enough for the great effort they have done for our typhoon ravaged people in the Visayas. If at all, it was hard for Leytenos to do things on their own, it was due to the fact that the major city centers of Leyte, Tacloban and Ormoc cities were devastated by the typhoon. At least Cebuanos in the North are lucky Metro Cebu was spared and has become the epicenter for the international relief efforts in the Visayas.

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