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View Full Version : A report from Tacloban from a survivor



lordna
14th November 2013, 22:40
This was posted on Facebook today ...interesting to read:-

I HAVE SURVIVED TACLOBAN, LETS US ALL NOW HELP TO MAKE IT SURVIVE.
(This is a firsthand account of what happened from my personal point-of-view)

DAY 1 STORM AFTERMATH (Friday)
No sign of authority was seen. People not oriented were to seek help, death toll unaccounted. Arterial roads leading in and out of Tacloban cluttered with debris. People were misled by hearsays that another sea surge would come and panicked to get out of the city and flee to nearby mountainside when daylight ceded.

Only sign of relief efforts were from Sagip Kapamilya that were distributed at Rosevenil Pensione, but it only lasted for a few families.

DAY 2 CRITICAL PERIOD (Saturday)
No improvement was seen, people were already desperate to seek food source as to all establishments were still closed. Consider the vast populations of the city relying to outside food source before you make irrational conclusions.

Have seen Sec. Mar Roxas aboard a passenger passed by Gaisano(old building) as people were starting looting the store scrounging for food to eat. Within a few hours almost all stores (Gaisano Central, 578, Mercury: Real, Sagkahan, Rizal, Robinsons, San Miguel Brewery, other Rice warehouses and mills) were looted as there was no sign of help was coming.

We were with Jiggy Manicad’s crew as we traverse the devastated state from downtown area to Palo to get to their nearest satellite as they have no contact with the main crew in Manila. This will be the first account of what happened at our beloved City.

DAY 3 SPARK OF HOPE (Sunday)
Volunteers from the Latter-Day-Saints started distributing relief goods via City government, but this was low and the city decided that distribution will be per barangay, Sec Jinky Soliman arrived, DSWD made a makeshift tent to establish the first communication outside the city.
Inmates of the City Jail got out (I don’t have speicifc numbers) as I was there when the shootout happened.

Still no distribution of relief goods was felt by nearby communities. 48 hours have passed, roads are still blocked, no power supply, no phone signal, bodies lay around the city starting to rot. All hospitals refused to accept patients as they were shorthanded, no supplies and nonoperational.

DAY 4 EXODUS (Monday)
People were now desperate to seek help and have now no other option but to leave the city we called home.

No relief operations were seen. Have tried boarding the C130 flight but they were prioritizing those VIP and other influential people. We were not accommodated that day and we were promised to be boarded the first flight out the following morning. St. Luke’s volunteers were there but was situated inside the locked area in the Air Traffic Control and is not accessible to ordinary people (as the airport is situated 10 km from the outskirts of the city and consider that you’ll have to brave knee length debris, water and corpse on the roads).

I have celebrated my Birthday on the side section of the runway were we were assigned not to leave. There were no tents provided for civilians, no food, no water, only for the armed forces and volunteers who were sheltered and fed. Hard rain poured that night and still we kept our group.

DAY 5 EXHAUSTION (Tuesday)
Imagine a 24 hour ordeal with no food and water. Lucky for an adult like me, consider thinking for infants, women, elderly and sick. Commotion arose as other people got mixed in with our group and we were trapped for 6 hours in a barricade full of people with media relentlessly taking pictures just doing nothing about it. Air Force Ground Personnel were very poor in ground management that some of them even lost patience and blurted insulting words as they are not designed to carry people for evacuation. “Hindi naming kayo pinipilit sumakay” verbatim engraved in my mind as if we owe it to them to evacuate us, isn’t it your duty Monsieur?

No food or water ration were provided for people at the airport considering that this is where most of the food source were located, and there were many armed personnel just roaming around not put to good use.

Foreign aid and media came in and were aghast of how our government poorly managed this situation. Badly indeed as there was no improvement.
Got a commercial flight from PAL (Php 2500) bound for Manila via connecting flight from Cebu for Thursday. PAL and Cebu Pacific did not offer free flight as previously claimed.

DAY 6 WAR ZONE (Wednesday)
Line for C130 got worse, US Army Planes were also boarded but still they have their own priorities. Gunfire sounds will be heard from every part of the city.

DAY 7 DESPERATION (Thursday)
From downtown area I have traversed again the perilous road leading to the airport, improvements to clearance and dead bodies were seen. But still people were shorthanded to manage the vast damage caused by this storm.
That midnight I have officemates and their families that boarded the Navy Ship bound for Cebu.

Luckily I have managed to get boarded, and imagine a plane full of hungry, exhausted people. That when bottled water and biscuits were distributed all of us opened and consumed it in a blink of an eye.

Everyone shed a silent tear as the plane rose; devastation was more extreme from aerial view, a sign that well brave everything not to leave the city we have loved but a chance for us to do something for it.

Tonight well be the first to sleep in clean clothes, comfy bed, a good dinner and all the comforts of the civilized life.

PLEASE SHARE TO MAKE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE REAL SETUP OF THE CITY. THIS IS NOT A TIME TO POINT WHOSE TO BLAME BUT FOR US TO HELP EVERYONE WE KNOW IN OUR OWN WAY.

Terpe
14th November 2013, 22:55
So sad to learn those stories we also heard about.
Amazing that there is still a resilience and positive aspect despite all.

We also heard about the armed gangs. We all know them.

We all need to do any little thing we can and push on regardless of any negativity until the end is reached.
Just my current thinking.

Glad you posted that .....thanks

gWaPito
16th November 2013, 03:12
Lordna....I've shared it on my fb

lordna
19th November 2013, 13:26
Another report from Tacloban:-

I was about to have dinner with a few good friends awhile ago at Robinson's Magnolia and while we were scouting for some items at Saizen to donate to the typhoon victims, we were approached by a lady & her teenager son and asked us if it was for Tacloban. Reluctantly, we said yes, then she told us that what is badly needed there are soap, toothpaste & toothbrush. Then she volunteered to inform us that she (of Chinese descent) & her son are survivors of the storm surge and that they just came in from Leyte & are now staying with her sister. Bravely, we asked if all the stories in the news are true, and she said not all. She then shared the following first-hand information to us:
1. The looters are NPA. Not the citizens of Tacloban. They come in hundred & thousands, riding motorcycles and pretending to be victims of the storm.
2. The NPA's are shooting people for the loot. With all the dead bodies around, the police, military & other volunteers do not screen anymore whether the cadaver was killed by drowning or a gunshot wound.
3. Relief goods arrived on the 4th day, but due to the number of victims in the airport alone, right then & there the relief goods are consumed & given out.
4. The rape cases are true & real. The rapists are the prisoners from the city jail who were freed because of the calamity.
5. For some reason, the government is blocking the media from finding out that the NPA's are the cause of the looting & chaos in Tacloban. Why? Maybe so as not to alarm people.
6. Mayor Duterte knows that these NPA's are the culprits that's why he brazenly called out to shoot the looters.
These now, i know, are true. There was a purpose why we were there and why we met them. They are God's answer to my questions, and while they did not answer all because of time constraints, i am just beyond grateful that i met them and are now safe.


The above confirms what our family in Tacloban have been sating about the NPA sadly.

Terpe
19th November 2013, 14:37
That's exactly my information also.

raynaputi
19th November 2013, 15:11
My mum's officemate (their company messenger) told her the same thing, the NPAs are the ones looting and stealing from the people. He went to Samar to look for his wife and kid and the rest of their family. While he was in a bus going to their town, the NPA stopped them and took everything from them. He ended up walking for 3 days just to get to their town. Good thing that his family are all alright.

gWaPito
19th November 2013, 15:23
For those of us who don't know what a NPA is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_People%27s_Army

These people had symapathy where my mother in law is from.....not any more :NoNo: