CEBU, Philippines – While thousands of people who lost their loved ones to Yolanda relived the horror of that tragic day, the residents in a small village of Giporlos town in Eastern Samar, had it in a festive mood, saying the day for them is a "celebration of life."
Councilman Gerando Fabillar, 28, of Barangay Parina, said November 8 this year was commemorated like a fiesta. It started with a "fun run," followed by a Palarong Pinoy or parlor games for the young and not-so-young in the village, and then a luncheon. By 2 p.m., Giporlos town Mayor Mark Biong officiated a mass wedding.
Parina is a coastal village facing the Pacific Ocean in Eastern Samar. Like other coastal areas that day, the village and its people were also swamped by 10-foot storm surge.
However, despite ignoring the warnings to evacuate to higher grounds, the village suffered only one casualty: An old, bedridden man who was trapped inside his house.
Fabillar said the villagers stayed in their homes until the very last moment, when the first wave of the storm surge barreled into their village. Along with hundreds of residents, men, women and children, they swam to higher grounds to save themselves.
The councilman attributed their survival to their swimming skills and to the 9-hectare centuries-old mangrove forest along their coast. "Before Yolanda, our mangroves gave us a living. During Yolanda, it kept us alive," he said, adding that his village was one of Eastern Samar's top producers of crabs.
Fabillar said that due to the mangrove cover, the flood water did not ruin the place as much as what happened to the adjoining village of Bakhaw. Locals surmised their mangrove area reduced the impact of the storm surge, making it possible for them to swim to safety.
Fabillar said, "We find it a reason to celebrate on November 8 because one minute more could have meant the difference between life and death for us. He was also thankful for the help extended them by generous donors and international non-government organizations, one of which is Plan International.
Plan International has "adopted" the village as one of its service areas after Yolanda. It implemented a cash-for-work scheme to help the village's 490 residents, who also replanted the damaged mangrove area.
Vice Mayor Fritzie Odron said residents of Parina were not only given the gift of a second life but various NGOs that came to help have enabled the people to regain a semblance of their old lives.
All 190 households in the village have been provided decent, transitional shelters by the local NGO, Ang Mananampalatayang Gumagawa Philippines, while the Philippine Red Cross installed a water tank with sand filter to replace the destroyed water reservoir of the village.