Valle: Balsa brings hope to Sendong’s orphansBy Margarita Valle I have always thought that the Filipino people have got what it takes especially in times of crisis. Another wave of what is touted as the citizen-led assistance to victims of the recent rush of calamities in Mindanao called BALSA-Mindanao is now on its way to affected areas in the Northeastern part of the island hit by typhoon Sendong. Several volunteers of all ages but most especially the youth from our City have taken upon themselves to get involved and be part of this magnanimous effort of sacrifices to bring hope to our devastated brothers and sisters who lost almost everything that they have. Indahag lot set as relocation siteBy Nicole J. Managbanag AFTER the controversial “piso-piso” project, the City Government will reportedly relocate some families affected by the flash flood inside its property in Barangay Indahag under Mayor Vicente Emano’s “50-50 cents” program. Councilor Alexander Dacer said qualified beneficiaries would be given a 40-square-meter lot with a one-time payment of 50 centavos inside the 11-hectare area, which was bought by the City Government during the time of then mayor Pablo Magtajas. Rising from the wreckageBy Margarita Valle STILL quite dazed and floating in space as she calls it, 17-year-old Jocehl "Love-love" Cristoria poured out her story that took place at the height of storm Sendong. They were preparing to sleep when they heard a commotion outside their abode in Upper Hinaplanon located a few meters from the river. When they looked out to the streets, they were aghast to see floodwaters rapidly inching up. She and her family scrambled to put their things in elevated places in the house, thinking that the flood would soon recede. | Rotary International donates ShelterBoxes to Iligan, tooBy Nora Soriño and Sita Asequia MGSD Iligan Iligan City - Few days after Sendong Storm struck Iligan City that left hundreds of families homeless, Rotary International came and provided evacuees tents to use as temporary shelter. The " tents " which people now call ShelterBox, have sprouted like mushrooms. There are around 80 tents installed now, said Samuel Salang, president of Rotary Club of Iligan South. The families living in the tents came from several barangays badly hit like Bayug IsLand, Hinaplanon and many more. Healing after ‘Sendong’By Queena N. Lee-Chua After Tropical Storm “Sendong,” residents of Cagayan de Oro (CDO) were filled with conflicting emotions. Disbelief that the tragedy happened in their area. Helplessness in stopping the floods. Anger at the illegal loggers, informal settlers, commercial reclamation, unresponsive government. Grief that families, friends, neighbors perished. Guilt that they survived. Psychologists from the Ateneo de Manila University learned of the survivors’ feelings when they debriefed the victims. Debriefing was essential for survivors to start to make sense of what transpired. DisquietBy Carlos Isagani T. Zarate It is an agonizing disquiet unmistakably etched on the faces of the thousands of evacuees, mostly cramped inside soiled evacuation centers in the different "Sendong"-devastated parts of Northern Mindanao, that cannot be easily forgotten or ignored. Sendong's fury did not only steal their merrymaking for the season, the tragedy also destroyed the lives of many, the dead and the survivors alike. To some, even an entire family, an entire future generation was totally washed away. They shared the unfortunate fate of a million others before them who suffered the same grief and endured the effects of the devastation caused by a deadly combination of humanity's greed and nature's wrath. |
