Tacloban City, Leyte.
One need not to say what
comes in one’s mind when one sees the word, much more the place. - Badly hit badly beaten, bad recall – Six
months after the devastation brought by Typhoon Haiyan on
November 8, 2013, I realized that it was not too bad to set foot on it,
with smile, with pride, with so much admiration to the people, and to those who
helped.
Resiliencies toppled miseries. The air of destructions, death, and ruins
were replaced by desire to bring everything back to normal, to RECREATE its
beauty, and to be loved again --- and so it moved on.
I was asked to attend the 2nd
UNICEF PCA Partners Meeting on May 29-30, 2014 in Tacloban City, Leyte. When I landed via Philippine Airlines which
has a daily flight schedule from Manila-Tacloban-Manila, we were warmly greeted
by airport personnel with a choreographed welcome chant. I can’t help but just to smile (I did not
understand what they were chanting, but its sounds promising).
Exiting the airport, we
hailed a taxi that would bring us directly to Hotel Alejandro, my heart beats so
fast that I almost forgot if I was actually breathing. My mind and heart were full of expectations,
but blinded by pre-anticipated scenarios, the usual things that I saw on TVs
kept playing on my mind. Then I realized
that I was waiting for that smell that was usually described by those who
already been there.
