The Unexpected trip

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 2^nd 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. 

Alas, none of those things exists, yes, there are tent cities right outside the airport, yes there were houses, buildings, roads and infrastructures that were destroyed and still down to the ground ---- But yes, there are those newly built houses, newly painted buildings, schools, and other establishments. The debris are less if not all gone, the roads are passable if not all good.  These are just my 2-day unprocessed observations, and I chose to see only the best out of all the efforts that were provided for the survivors in Tacloban.

We were booked at Hotel Alejandro which is located at Paterno St., Tacloban City, merely 20 minutes away from the airport.  

The façade of Hotel Alejandro offers a glimpse of history.  Hanging on the porch is the tarpaulin sign “TINDOG Tacloban (Rise up Tacloban

We arrived in Tacloban 2 hours ahead of the scheduled meeting, we were hoping for a quick nap at the hotel, but rooms were all taken by foreign and local aid workers, who have been delivering services and   aiding the development of the province since the dawn of the disaster.  We decided to check on other hotels that might agree to have us check-in the soonest possible time, but our attempt were wasted, all hotels were fully booked or simply won’t accept early check-in.

We easily roamed around the City, expats are everywhere, walking around in shorts or sporting the usual Northface or Columbia outfits in boots or trek shoes and mountaineering packs, they dined, and sipped coffee at the corner bakery, like they belong there.  There are mobile trucks with UN and other international agencies logo.  Those scenarios aroused the feeling of being transported to another country where those aids are usually rendered, much like in Africa.

I decided not to take my SLR because I did not expect to see anything different, considering that I saw enough on TV and on the web, thus, I regretted it. 

The meeting were gone smoothly despite debates on small, yet, vital details.  Everybody in the room is working on common ground and everybody aimed for one thing, and one thing only – the recovery and safety of children affected by the typhoon.  

Jose Carlos Café

Sto. Niño Church, under construction.

 The meeting was held in this quaint 3 floors café, Jose Carlos Café at P. Paterno Street, in front of Sto.Nino church, near hotel Alejandro. Food is superb, but not cheap. The ambiance is pleasantly comfortable and easy.  In the afternoon, the place is packed by foreigners and locals who were either having a meeting or simply hanging out with friends or lost alone with book on hands. Indeed, the usual. 

Then we gave ourselves a chance to see the last unbreakable, huge, and concrete reminder of what happened. We visited the site of M/V Eva Jocelyn, one of five ships washed ashore during the typhoon. It damaged loads of houses and properties, and  claimed too many lives that were still underneath.  The ship now became one of the most famous landmarks in the city. 

The M/V Eva Jocelyn that was driven ashore at Tacloban City during the wild upsurge of Typhoon Yolanda in 2013. A quiet, yet concrete reminder of the onslaught of nature's fury. 

Me infront M/V Eva Jocelyn.

 Two days is over, never seen much, don’t know much, yet I learned somethings very important there.  In times of disaster, everybody is indispensable.  Everybody can help; everyone can do something, no matter how big or small; and no matter whom you are.

I left the place wondering what happened to the Sto. Niño Shrine and Heritage, it is one of the Former President Marcos rest houses. The shrine was built in honor of his wife Imelda Marcos, because she was born in Tacloban.  I had a chance to visit the shrine when I first came to Tacloban in 2005, it housed a collections of paintings, antiques, and ivories of Mrs. Marcos, not to mention her shoes collections (but it was already been taken out of the shrine before we went there in 2005). The shrine is the last old structure I saw on the way to the airport.