IN THE KNOW: November 2011

To every Filipino, experiencing a typhoon is considered ordinary, since the country is frequently visited by 20-25 every year. Therefore, typhoon Pedring ( Nesat) which struck on September 27, 2011 at 5 a.m. was number 17 this year. Bulacan, Pampanga and Manila were categorized under signal No. 2, thus experiencing typical heavy rain and strong winds. But despite the fact that this typhoon’s centre was located in the Northern Luzon town of Baguio, Manila had flash floods and a storm surge leaving 5 people dead. The province of Bulacan where Calumpit resides among 29 municipalities, experienced normal stormy weather with heavy rain and wind. By September 28th, typhoon Pedring had left the country and on the next day, the routines of normal life were expected to resume. It was also sunny that day, which was supposed to be a sign of a usual weather cycle.

For Marietta and Roy, residents of Canada and United States since 1998 respectively, whose native village is Frances, Calumpit, flooding brought by excessive typhoon raining was a common experience. They remembered when growing up, more often than not during Roy’s birthday at this time of year, there usually was a flood. Roy used to become envious seeing his siblings and neighbours swimming in flood water. He was not allowed to because he was usually sick. The siblings also recollected the last big flood back in 1976, but they were too young to really comprehend its impact. Marietta and Roy never failed to check on their family’s situation each day until the conditions returned to normal as they usually do, or so it seemed. The fact that Pedring slammed and dumped enormous amounts of rain bringing flood waters to the town is almost an annual event, otherwise the town wouldn’t earn its name “flood catch basin” of Luzon. To the siblings, this is expected although not accepted.

Later that night, Marietta and her husband Mark checked the status of the flood water, and their family informed them that water rose from the river, grounds were flooded, but their house in the Philippines is still at least half a foot above the water level. Their parents, 3 sisters , 2 teenage nephews, 2 young nieces, (the youngest being 4 years old), all reside in the village of Frances within close proximity of each other. Nobody in the family was a bit alarmed since this scenario has been played out for more than two score years, and as always, the flood water never rose above the ground floor of their one-level bungalow.

On the 28th, water originating from another province flowed into the already flood swollen waters of the Pampanga River, which directly feeds Frances and other villages in Calumpit.

At approximately four in the morning on the 29th of September, Pacific Time (15 hours behind Philippine time), a shocking call came from their youngest sister Ana, that the water had entered the house, reaching the bedrooms which are elevated from the main floor by 5 steps! Their only refuge was the highest part of the house- THE ROOF. This news sent alarming signals to both Marietta and Roy, who started asking for help. Marietta immediately traced a personal friend from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Lucena. Unfortunately, he was assigned to a place that was out of reach, but Marietta still left the emergency message to the officer with whom she spoke. By this time Roy had already posted “SEND A RESCUE TO CALUMPIT PLS!!!” on the wall of his social network site, Facebook, seeking an immediate rescue.

Marietta didn’t waste time, and also posted “ Pls send RUBBER or MOTORIZED BOAT...RESCUE PLS!!!!, my family Aquiong Pangan+8, FRANCES, CALUMPIT, BULACAN. Nasa bubong na sila, ung 2big nasa 2nd floor na walang communicaion (they are now on the roof as the water has already touched the elevated floor). Worried sick na po ako dito sa ( I am worried sick in ) Canada... please help!!!!!”.

She also immediately followed with more postings on the walls of several Filipino media/publishing and news networks such as : Bayan Mo Ipatrol Mo, Sa Ngalan ng Gobyerno, Umagang Kay Ganda, GMA News, DZBB DZMM and followed 2 prominent media personalities, where she posted the emergency. Because of this, 2 news networks contacted their father, Heracleo, 74, and conducted an interview over the phone.

Marietta didn’t spare the wall of Philippine Red Cross. She then sent more emails to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) office in Manila, which provided e-mail receipts but didn’t provide an immediate response. Roy on the other hand, posted on Twitter for Umagang Kay Ganda and GMA news online to rescue his family. He also contacted Cathy Luntayao of ABS-CBN liaising through his cousin Nerissa Felix. He then sent an email to the PCG, requesting them to dispatch a rescue helicopter and amphibious water vessels to Frances Calumpit.

Marietta saw the first signs of hope when a few network groups, to whom they had earlier sent posts, acknowledged the emergency and responded by asking for names, location and conditions. Among them were Bayan Mo I-Patrol Mo (BMPM), Umagang Kay Ganda (UKG) and Sa Ngalan ng Gobyerno (SNNG) and DZMM. Both BMPM & SNNG members even helped disseminate the need by reposting the message on their walls and walls of other groups with whom they are connected. Throughout the course of the day, Roy and Marietta found several more contacts, called more people, e-mailed more government agencies, especially the hotline and rescue team in Calumpit/Malolos to place their family’s rescue in priority, due to the utmost concern for their elderly parents’ medical and health conditions. They never stopped searching for more friends, relatives and organizations who might be able to provide some form of assistance.

Roy even called the U.S. Embassy, American Red Cross and radio station Coast 103.5 based in Los Angeles. The siblings, alternately exchanged updates with their family via text messaging, a strategy they thought would help prolong the battery life of their sister’s cell phone which only had one charged battery. The town had been without electricity for the past three days, so this one battery was nearly exhausted! They also learned that rescuers were having difficulty reaching Frances, due to the flood’s strong water current. Then the darkest night fell - rescue operations were suspended due to the power outage - which meant that the family’s only option was to stay on the roof top for the night and wait for help to arrive in the morning.

Even throughout the Philippine night, Roy and Marietta both continued finding more people who might be able provide help. Marietta started posting suggestions on what to bring to facilitate her family’s rescue. She posted a suggestion “to bring Chopper/Helicopter and huge ropes to save my family in Frances, Calumpit”. She reiterated that land transportation would not be possible and again begged to have her family saved, who were all still on the rooftop since the previous night, with no signs of being rescued.

As soon as Marietta found the contact for a calamity hotline, she made several attempts until she was able to speak with a representative by the name of Myrna, (who refused to disclose her last name) from the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC). Marietta’s plea for help was not at all successful, as Myrna was not interested in hearing what her emergency was about. Myrna didn’t even bother to ask for names, locations or conditions. She simply was not interested in listening to the urgency of Marietta’s call.

On the 30th, Marietta continued posting suggestions to her wall and walls of other sites, providing suggestions for motorboats such as speedboats to which Subic Administration had access, asking if they could possibly lend them to Calumpit. She pointed out a better route for aid to penetrate the now isolated village of Frances. Roy in L.A. had been calling friends and relatives in Las Vegas, Long Beach and the Los Angeles area. He also called his friends and relatives in Manila, with the anticipation of obtaining help to rescue his stranded family as soon as possible.

On this day, through a friend in California, Marietta be-friended Dyaryo Magdalo Editor, Attorney Berteni “Toto” Cataluna-Cusing where she posted on Atty Toto’s page, a request for help urging big businesses to pitch in and send motorized boats. Marietta and Roy, while at the peak of their biggest dilemma, still managed to arrange help for their friends and other relatives, who were also half a world away from their families. They were directly contacting rescue hotline numbers and providing pertinent information to rescuers such as names, exact location, and conditions of other people to improve the chance of immediate rescue. One of Marietta’s comrades, Ronald Aguilar of Calgary, also made phone calls to his friend at GMA network, giving Marietta’s family’s name and made sure that they were in priority for rescue.

The situation became even more alarming with the news that a new typhoon was about to touch land and was expected to hit the same areas where Pedring had been. The rescue operations were now a race against time. All rescue hotlines told Marietta and Roy that their parents location, though 200 meters away from the main highway, had the strongest current, and attempting a rescue would seriously endanger the rescuer’s lives. Marietta also learned from her sister Ana, that 3 rubber boats already passed by their house, promising to return and rescue them, but never did. Marietta and Roy refused to listen to the assessments from rescue hotlines because more than ever, the family needed to be rescued. Rain was falling and there was no other place for their family to stay but up on the rooftop.

Marietta and Roy refused to give up. For the second night, the family was still marooned on the roof, and rescue attempts would not resume until the next day. Since there was no hope making follow-up appeals for rescue, Marietta initiated a fund raising drive in Calgary for flood victims. She shared the idea with Roy in California and with former villagers and citizens of Calumpit through Facebook. The two used what was left of their energy from lack of sleep for 56 hours to plan their next move. For them, there has to be a way to find people to help. They were focusing on the thinnest silver lining of hope, despite the large dark cloud looming over them.

On Oct 1st - three days after receiving the first alarm from Ana - their family was still on the roof. Making matters more urgent was the announcement of the severity of the 2nd typhoon. News information they saw on TV and heard from radio stations were urging people to seek higher grounds and the government was now implementing forced evacuations. Marietta and Roy continued to pray earnestly, refused to lose their determination despite all the discouragement they received from day one. They relentlessly maintained their faith and hope, continued posting on walls, phoning and e-mailing for help.

Marietta and Roy received total moral support from their families. Mark, Marietta’s husband took care of all the house chores including cooking. Marietta’s health condition is fragile, therefore, Mark was very adamant that she get some sleep. He also served her food and drinks while she was glued to the computer and phone for 3 nights and 4 days. He even took the drastic move of making her take a tranquilizer/sedative to induce sleep. Mark also drafted rough design for a distillation unit so that the family could have water to use. Maricel and Nathan, Roy’s wife and son were also there all the way, providing encouragement, moral support, and checked on Roy very diligently. They provided him with much needed comfort and relief during the darkest days.

Besides their immediate families, Marietta and Roy also found other support systems in groups they belong to in Facebook, making comments and discussing their family’s situation. Phone calls from some friends were also a source of encouragement. These helped to keep themselves together and in no way would they consider the unthinkable. Although their family was in grave danger, the siblings still found ways to reach out. They extended help to other friends in similar situations by calling the rescue hotlines directly, who became very familiar with them from repeatedly hearing their voices.

Roy constantly communicated with his cousin, Marilou Ponio, who contacted another relative in The Philippine Marines, Arnold Villanueva. While another cousin Nerissa Felix didn’t lose touch with Cathy Luntayao, ABS-ACBN staff, who also made several attempts using the network’s chopper for a rescue. Due to the proximity of many power lines, the chopper was not able to safely approach the roof top. Arnold Villanueva tried several times, but was unable to locate them either. At the same time, Ben Esteban, a close family friend, urged his brother Nelson and wife Marilyn who brought a friend with them that was a former rescuer from the Philippine Red Cross. The Estebans brought a boat with them and went to Calumpit to assist in the rescue of Roy and Marietta’s family.

2nd of October, Marietta and Roy’s sister Ana sent a text message stating that their parents and 2 nieces were rescued! But the rubber boat used for the rescue had a hole, therefore she and one of her sisters and 2 nephews remained on the roof. The heroic rescue effort was made possible by frogmen from the Philippine Coast Guard together with members of the Philippine National Police- Baguio and the Philippines Red Cross Rescue Team . By 6 pm, they had all been rescued and brought to higher ground near the Calumpit bridge. The family stayed overnight at the home of Marietta’s best friend in Calumpit town- Lilian Lagami Esteban (Ben Esteban’s wife).

3rd of October- Roy and Marietta’s parents were brought to a hospital to treat their mother’s temporary trauma and hypertension, and their father’s hypothermia from the rain water that soaked him the day before. Afterwards, Marietta & Roy’s family went to Manila and stayed with their cousin and wife’s home Jun/Nerissa Felix in Pasay City. A day after the family was rescued, Roy and Marietta continued to assist by making follow-up calls to the rescue teams providing the names of other people in their village that required help. At the time this story was written, the siblings concentrated efforts on their fund raising projects, to help augment the shortages and immediate needs of their fellow Calumpitenyo’s and Bulakenyos (citizens of Calumpit and Bulacan).

4th of October- The second typhoon Quiel, although it didn’t hit Calumpit, still devastated the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela and Benguet. It also caused more flooding in the provinces of Tarlac, Pangasinan and in towns in Pampanga.

5th of October- Typhoon Quiel left the country, but left almost 3 million people devastated, including lose of life and ruined infrastructure, agriculture and fisheries. The total cost of the damage from the typhoons was estimated to be more than 9 billion pesos.

6th of October- The forced evacuation order was lifted and there was no danger in returning home. The family is still not finished dealing with the flood since the water level in the house was still waist high. Marietta and Roy’s siblings and their children are managing to stay in the home where they almost lost their lives. I was able to share this true story because I am the sister- Marietta.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Deepest Gratitude: Frogmen- Philippine Coast Guard

Philippine National Police- Baguio

Philippine Red Cross Rescue Team

Facebook Networking Site

With:

Nerissa & Jun Felix

Marilou Ponio

Cathy Luntayao, ABS-CBN Network

Esteban Family: Ben & Lilian, Nelson & Marilyn, relatives and friends

Arnold Villanueva, Philippine Marines

Rescue Hotline Malolos/Calumpit