Eufemia Igoy, 63 and her six year old grandson happily ate together a complete set of meals handed to them upon their arrival at Villamor Airbase. They are natives of Baras, Palo, Leyte and among those survivors who arrived on Friday aboard PAF C130.
She has seven children but was only able to bring along one of his grandsons in her trip to Manila.
“Tatlong araw kaming hindi kumain. Na wash-out ang bahay namin. Sarili lang namin ang aming nailigtas,” (We have not eaten for three days. Our house was washed out. We have not saved anything),” Igoy tearfully narrated.
She added that they went to the evacuation center but Yolanda was too strong and toppled their refuge.
“Sa pang-apat na araw na kami nakakain . Yung basang bigas, sinaing namin kahit mabaho na at pinaghati-hatian (We were able to eat after four days. We cooked the rotten rice and divided it among ourselves),” Igoy recounted.
Desperate of the situation at the typhoon ravaged Leyte, they walked from Baras to Tacloban airport for almost six hours and waited for another two days for a transportation to Mactan, Cebu. Until finally, they were able to ride the C130 bound to Manila on Friday.
She said she decided to get out of her ravaged town as situation is getting worse each day, but she plans to go back to her hometown soon as situation is back to normal. In the meantime, she will be staying with her sister in Bacood, Sta. Mesa, Manila.
Help Desk and Oplan Hatid
The Department of Social Welfare and Development-National Capital Region (DSWD-NCR) has set-up a help desk that accommodates inquiries and assesses the needs of the arriving typhoon survivors.
“We have social workers, psychologists and volunteers who conduct interviews and provide psychosocial interventions. We are also in close coordination with Non-Government and private organizations in the provision of the basic needs of the evacuees,” said DSWD-NCR Regional Director Ma. Alicia s. Bonoan.
She added that evacuees who have families or relatives to go home to in Metro Manila are provided with transportation through the Oplan Hatid initiative, in partnership with volunteers who offered their vehicles to ferry and escort them to their destinations.
Those evacuees who do not have families to go to and those waiting for their relatives to fetch them will be temporarily accommodated at DSWD-run facilities and accredited NGOs. Social workers at the center will contact their families and facilitate their eventual reintegration with them.
Evacuees still counting
As of November 18, 2013 at 1:00pm, a total of 1,018 families or 3,463 individuals from Eastern Visayas have arrived at Villamor Airbase via C130. Some 442 of them were fetched by their families and relatives while some 419 were brought to DSWD facilities and DSWD accredited Non-Government Organizations.
These evacuees were provided with transportation assistance and food packs, while those needing medical assistance were referred to volunteer doctors and hospitals for treatment. ### (November 18, 2013)