Typhoon Pablo ( Bopha), A Glimpse of Impact in Mindanao

"Let’s stand together, let’s help one another."

Eastern Mindanao has been silent from many natural calamities for so long now and it was a surprise among the locals of Mindanao when Super Typhoon Pablo (Typhoon Bopha) hit and almost wipe out the silent agricultural provinces of Compostela and Davao Oriental  from the  Philippine map .

Two days before the actual downfall of the typhoon, it was forecasted by the PAGASA that it is directed to hit Surigao del Sur and we were all alarmed as the province has never been hit by any typhoon since 1984. People were all panicking knowing that the place is prone to landslides and flashfloods.

This man is still in shock of the devastating typhoon that hit Compostela Valley

It was a miracle on our part that after an overnight monitoring, only howling winds reached our place. Damages were minimal but enough to put our area into isolation due to loss of electricity, water, no available signal for communication and the entire means of transportation was paralyzed. We were all unaware what happened to other nearby provinces until the electricity resumed two days after.

Watching from the initial report of local news, I was shocked learning what happened to Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental . They were like bombarded by a nuclear bomb with all properties, houses and farms wiped out. The communities were like ghost towns and casualties rises each time the breaking news pop up. I felt so guilty that I prayed so hard to spare us from the wrath of nature but never thought it would fall to the nearby places, and sad it landed in Compostela and Davao Oriental, provinces that have never been visited by typhoon for almost a century, the last was in 1912.

I packed up my bag to visit Davao City to somehow participate on the community movement to help  the relief operation for the victims of the super typhoon. With the assistance of my blogger friend Glen Santillan  of Escape Manila, we were able to collect cash donations from friends from different parts of the Philippines and even from the US.

I jumped into a 10-hour bus ride bound for Davao  and I was dishearten to see the impact of the typhoon starting from the low lying areas of Agusan del Sur to Davao del Norte. Houses, trees, crops and even concrete infrastructures were all wiped out due to the powerful wind unleashed by Super Typhoon.Pablo. 

I sensed that the reports from the news were somehow incomplete and only concentrated on some parts of eastern Mindanao. It was like passing by in ghost towns where people were all still in a state of shock and don’t know how to recover from the disaster that ran into their lives. Agricultural damages could reach hundreds of millions of pesos to billions and none of the planted crops were spared from the horrifying tornado like wind.

Food is scarce and people are getting hungry as not much help have been able to reach all the victims in the area. Women and children lined up on the highways holding and waiving a cup, pale or basin hoping motorists would throw spare food or coins to them. Men were all busy finding scraps of materials littered on the fields to construct a temporary shelter for their families.

The last 6 hours of my travel was a scenario of total devastation especially upon reaching the towns of Trento, Monkayo and Montivesta in Compostela Valley. None of the buildings were able to stand against the fury of typhoon Pablo. Literally the whole communities were wiped out by the strong winds. It was heartbreaking to see that our brothers and sisters struggling hard to survive the day and were all wishing to be awakened from this unlikely nightmare.

Some of the donated clothes, food and water for the victims of Typhoon Pablo 

I reached Davao by 7:30 pm. Glenn and I hit the groceries to cash out the donations for bottled water, canned goods, instant noodles and sacks of rice and delivered it to Hotel Veneez in Matina, Davao City. One blogger friend, Olan of Travel Teller is one of the victims of the typhoon as their house was swept down to the ground and nothing was left on their possession. He narrated to us how his hometown holds so many unexplored, untainted beautiful natural resources and in a snap of a finger, lost it all from a single fury of nature. Cateel is host municipality to one of the most beautiful and highest waterfalls in the country, Aliwagwag.

Bloggers give back  (L-R) Sarah Elizar, Roj Braga , James Betia, Olan Emboscado , Glen Santillan ,Love Mindanao

I admire Olan as he led the campaign to reach out and help the victims by asking friends from different parts of the country to SAVE CATEEL. He had never shown any sign of slowing down until he made all the necessary actions, lifting up the spirits of his kababayan in Cateel .

The young volunteers , the sons and daughters also of the victims of the calamity, managed to smile and help the others

We are appealing to all of you my dear readers and friends to extend your helping hands to reach out to the victims of the typhoon Pablo. Together, we can help make Compostela and Davao Oriental back on their feet. Let’s stand together, let’s help one another.

Our sincerest thanks to friends who gave a little  of their resources for the victims of the typhoon Pablo:Reiza Dejito, Mai Flores, Tess Chancellor,Glen Santillan, Love Mindanao, Marky Ramone Go, Lauren Gaile, Albert The Backpacker,Kimkawayan Lim, Cathrina Guiwan, Geraldine Silva.(Batch1) .

Story of Batch 2 of sets of angels who gave their blessings coming soon for  the second wave of sent donations to our brothers and sisters in Davao Oriental. Maraming maraming salamat.

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