These were the words of People Surge chairperson Dr. Efleda K. Bautista on November 1, a day etched in Filipino tradition as the day to remember and visit the resting places of departed loved ones. People Surge is an alliance of typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) survivors who have been campaigning for speedy and adequate aid to the typhoon victims since January this year.
People Surge led a visit to the mass graves in three towns in Leyte: Tacloban City, Tanauan and Palo. This is the first All Saints’ Day after typhoon Yolanda struck different parts of the country; the worst-hit being the Eastern Visayas region (particularly Leyte, Eastern Samar, and Biliran Island) where the typhoon first made landfall.
“As we remember our dead on All Saints’ Day, we also solemnly vow to continue our struggle to claim justice from the Aquino government. [We] continue to demand the accountability of our leaders as our lasting tribute to our loved ones lost to the vicious impact of Yolanda,” Dr. Bautista said.
Visiting mass graves is part of the Alliance’s activities for the anniversary commemoration of the Yolanda victims on November 8.
Tanauan accounts casualties, relief
Ramil Vierras, 44, barangay (village) captain of Cabuynan in Tanauan, Leyte accounted fifty-six buried bodies in the 50-square meter mass grave adjacent to the barangay’s chapel. According to Vierras, four bodies remained unidentified, as it was highly difficult to recognize bloated bodies or whose bones belonged to whom. No rent whatsoever will be charged to the gravesite, as the land is owned by the barangay, according to Vierras.
Corpses were buried the day after Yolanda’s landfall. However, a decent marker was erected in the gravesite only on December 21, 2013, with the assistance of Mercy Relief, a Singapore-based non-government organization (NGO).
Vierras echoed the residents’ dismay over the government’s relief efforts when he recalled how various NGOs supported them more regularly and comprehensively. While the government issued P20,000 in October this year for shelter assistance, the said amount alloted for material requisitions are still not in the hands of the residents. Likewise, the residents are still waiting for the P10,000 financial assistance promised to every household.
Meanwhile, almost 700 bodies were buried in the central island junction in Barangay Calogcog, also in Tanauan, Leyte. September of this year, construction works to convert the central island to a memorial park started. The landscaping and all the necessary construction works are expected to be finished next year. Calogcog is one of the coastal villages of Tanauan town badly hit by the seven-meter storm surge.
Palo remembers the thousand departed
Almost a thousand bodies were buried in Barangay San Joaquin, Palo, Leyte – 370 were identified while roughly 500 others buried were unidentified. The gravesite is also located within the parish compound similar to the one in Cabuynan.
Myrna De Veyra, 44, a resident of Barangay San Joaquin, lit candles in the graves of her two daughters, aged 13 and 5. De Veyra, who was working in Quezon City the day Yolanda hit the region, was only able to find a trip to Tacloban on the 21st of November or 13 days after the typhoon hit. She found only her three sons and soon found out what happened to her daughters upon her arrival.
“Nagkahiwa-hiwalay silang magkakapatid dahil parang nagkaroon ng whirlpool noong kasagsagan ng storm surge. Magkahawak pa rin sila (dalawang anak na babae) ng kamay hanggang sa mawalan sila ng buhay,” (A whirlpool separated the siblings from each other during the storm surge. They (two daughters) were still holding each other’s hand until they lost their lives.) she recalled.
De Veyra benefited from the shelters provided by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), an international NGO and also received an amount of 12,000 from Tzu Chi Foundation, a Buddhist charitable organization.
On the other hand, Maricris Labrador, 39, also a resident of San Joaquin recalled her ordeal during the storm and shared that until now she is yet to fully accept the death of her youngest child. She said that contrary to some reports saying that the residents share the blame for the deaths for their ill-preparedness and refusal to evacuate, Labrador clarified that as early as 4:00 in the morning, she and her youngest child already evacuated to the nearby elementary school building to seek refuge from the extremely strong winds. Labrador carried her youngest daughter, Cris Joy, 8, but her daughter lost her grip on her because of the strong current of the storm surge. Labrador searched for her daughter 
and found her body, which she carried in the nearby mass grave and buried all by herself. During Manila Today’s interview with Labrador, she wept as she recalled the time when she already thought of giving up on her own life but realized that she still has a son to attend to amid the storm mishap that lasted for weeks beyond November 8. Labrador is now struggling to make a living for her son who is now studying in the local elementary school.
In Tacloban City, a symbolic candle-lighting ceremony was also held at Holy Cross Memorial Garden in Diit, where more or less 3,000 identified and unidentified Yolanda casualties were buried.
Death toll count halted
Official government tally on Yolanda casualties abruptly stopped last April 2014, with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) reporting 6,201 deceased, 27,665 injured, and 1,061 missing.
On the other hand, the Department of Local and Interior Government (DILG) Regional Office 8 accounted 5,894 casualties, as of June 22.
However, an estimate made by forensics expert Raquel Fortun placed the number of deaths at around 18,000, coinciding with the observations of many Yolanda survivors who witness retrieval of dead bodies even in recent months.
Hazards trouble struggling survivors
Meanwhile, survivors in Eastern Visayas yet to recover from the damages wrought by Yolanda have already been affected by new hazards.
The Ocenars, a family still living in a tent city in Tacloban City, perished when their tent caught fire in March this year.
A number of typhoons, including Glenda (international name: Rammasun) and Mario (international name: Fung-Wong), also affected survivors with storms and extreme rainfall. Typhoon Glenda in July 2014 forced hundreds of residents from the “tent cities” to evacuate as torrential rains and strong winds shattered their tents.
Survivors hit gov’t beautification plan for Pope visit
The government has announced plans to relocate survivors still living in tents and those in bunkhouses but People Surge sees these plans are for “beautification plan for Pope visit” than for the promised rehabilitation. The said “beautification plan” also poses threats to a vast of unmarked mass graves.
“We tremble with indignation over government plans to build over a massive unmarked grave in the Town Plaza of Tanauan and another one in the town of Palo as part of an on-going beautification frenzy in welcoming Pope Francis. What an ungodly thing to do to score brownie points with the Pope’s visit,” Dr. Bautista concluded.
According to Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, 1,000 families still living in tents will be relocated to transitional shelters. In Palo, Leyte, more than 250 families living in bunkhouses will be displaced and moved to shelters constructed by Tzu Chi Foundation in Barangay Caloogan in Palo. Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has already commenced a road-widening in October this year in preparation for the Papal visit.
Pope Francis is expected to arrive on January 17, 2015 in Tacloban City to visit the Yolanda survivors.
