Paying it Forward...

(written by: Lourdes Villanueva)

On June 21, 2008, Typhoon Frank, originally reported to be heading for Legazpi City, Albay, decided to change course and headed instead for the land of Aklanons.

The damage wrought by Frank on Aklan was horrendous. The tropical storm was packing winds of up to 140 kilometres per hour. Within hours of landfall, communities were submerged in over ten feet of water because of simultaneous landslides that fell from the hills of Libacao into the Aklan river. About 14000 homes were totally destroyed, and more than 90,000 families were affected by the storm and flashfloods. Days after the typhoon, the Kalibonhons were still wading through 2-3 feet of mud.

Meanwhile in the land of Albay, the thousands who were evacuated from their houses were thankful that the danger had passed and slowly started to return to their homes. "Hay Salamat. Dios, Mabalos po!" murmured the Albayanos who were grateful for the absence of the rain, lahar and landslides that had so left them traumatized in the wake of the last great storm (Reming). But even in their gratefulness, the people in Albay recognized that typhoon Frank's diversion only meant that the brunt of its force would be suffered by another island province.

Unfortunately for Aklan, the great towers of the telecom industries did not withstand the torment of the storm. Communication was cut for about 2.5 days. And for those three days, the broadcasting agencies were focused on the damages suffered by Aklan's neighboring province, Iloilo. The rest of the country simply had no idea that the damage to Aklan was far worse than the damage to Iloilo and the other neighboring provinces.

And so it was that when we at Dios Mabalos Po Foundation sat down to map out our plan of action for relief and emergency feeding, our initial intent was to head to Iloilo. That was until little bits of information started trickling in to Albay.

The first line of communication I received from Aklan was from a friend's cousin Rommelyn Constantino. She sent me a message on the 25th of June asking for help because their home was destroyed. According to her, the second story of their house fell and everything they owned was destroyed.

I thought this was an isolated case. But that same day, Zaldy Rapiz, the chairman of Kauswagan Development Cooperative sent a message out to my mom. He was begging for help for the members of the cooperative.

This is how we came to learn that the people of Aklan were also in need. And yet, we didnt have much data. All we had were small bits of information. I tried to reach out to all the people I met in Aklan when I went there in January 2008 for the Ati-atihan festival. The only reply I received came from Georgine Ruiz, who also begged for whatever aid or help we can provide.

It wasn't until my mom received messages from her colleague and friend, Mavis Campos of Cataract Foundation, that we were able to figure out the true extent of the damage to Aklan. Tita Mavis sent me pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/cataractfoundation/TyphoonFrankHitsAklan. When I saw the images, I knew I had to go to Aklan.

I sat down with my mom. My family was scheduled to leave for Europe to attend an international trade fair in Germany. It was also the 150th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes. And so it was timely for me to go on my pilgrimage to Lourdes, France 25 years after my parents asked for Our Lady's intercession for my safe passage into this world. (In 1982, the doctors advised my parents that they shouldn't have any more kids after my mom suffered from a temporary paralysis upon giving birth to my brother). I couldn't however find it in my heart to leave for Europe knowing full well what was happening in Aklan.

See, in November of 2006, when Typhoon Reming devastated my homeland, Albay, I was out of the country. I wanted to fly home soon after I learned about what happened to Albay but I wasn't able to do so until March of 2007. When I came home, 4 months after the typhoon, my Albay was still very much hurting. But I was comforted by the realization that the country had come to the aid of Albay and even after four months, there still remained a number of local and international organizations and groups that were working tirelessly to help my people. So it was that come June 26, 2008, after hearing about the plight of the Aklanons, I knew that the time to pay it forward had finally come.

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