Bohol bound

MANILA, Philippines - We came to office on Monday and were greeted by a wall of biscuits – literally. Pails in red, green and blue stacked up to about six feet high filled the lobby of our building, and lined the corridor into the editorial offices and even up to the second floor administrative offices.

The 3,000 tubs were part of the relief goods to be sent to Loon, Bohol, one of the areas hardest hit by the 7.2 magnitude quake that struck Central Visayas Tuesday before last. Loon is also one of the most inaccessible areas because the roads and bridges, and even its wharf, have been destroyed or damaged.

The STAR’s Operation Damayan is focusing its relief efforts to help around 9,000 families in Loon, in particular two of its island communities in Sandingan and Cabilao. The 3,000 or so families in these communities, being so isolated, have been largely unreached by relief operations.

A major challenge facing Operation Damayan is transporting the relief goods to Loon. Aside from the 3,000 tubs of biscuits, each relief package will include 5 gallons of water, 5 kilos of rice, blankets, diapers, and a grocery pack (milk, sugar, energen, coffee, etc.), all sourced from Manila since goods are scarce in Bohol and even nearby Cebu. Other ready to eat food like bread may be included if these can be bought in Bohol or Cebu.

STARweek’s Alpha Tolentino, a Damayan volunteer, joined the advance team that visited Loon a few days after the quake. It was an arduous three-hour trip from Tagbilaran, Bohol’s capital, through narrow one-lane roads hugging the mountainsides. The threat of not-so-minor aftershocks stalked them; it was a relief then that when a 4.2 magnitude tremor was felt on Sunday afternoon, they were no longer on the mountain road.  

Unfortunately, this means that the relief goods cannot be transported by large trucks. And since the wharf has also been damaged, only small craft like bancas (pumpboats) can dock. Imagine the number of trips the bancas would have to make to bring everything there! It is indeed quite a formidable challenge for Damayan.

STAR president and CEO Miguel Belmonte and the hardy Damayan volunteers are, however, determined to get the goods to the people of Loon – whatever it takes. “They really need our help,” Miguel said last Monday as he looked over the walls of biscuits in our office. “I still don’t know how we’re going to get everything there, but we will.” A bucket brigade of STAR employees loaded the tubs onto our trucks that brought the goods to the airport. By Tuesday evening, the wall of biscuits was gone; all that and the blankets had been dispatched by plane to Bohol; the rest of the goods will be sent by whatever means – land, air or sea – as soon as the way opens up. In all the years Damayan has been in operation, it hasn’t yet met a challenge that it couldn’t surmount. It is this spirit, multiplied in thousands of people all over the country pitching in in ways big and small, that will ensure not just the survival but the revival of our people in Bohol, in Cebu, in Zamboanga and in areas ravaged by quake, storm, flood and even mindless conflict.