Manicani in Guiuan, Eastern Samar sets example

Manicani today. Two of the  more than 400 houses built by Nickel Asia Corporation for victims of Yolanda.

Manicani today. Two of the more than 400 houses built by Nickel Asia Corporation for victims of Yolanda.

GUIAN, Eastern Samar – It was in this town at the southernmost tip of Samar Island that typhoon Yolanda (international name, Haiyan), packing winds at 380 kilometers per hour, that made its first landfall at wee hours of Nov. 8, one year ago.

After four hours of howling, spine-tingling winds, only buildings and houses remained with roofs. Electric posts were toppled. Trees were uprooted. The sturdy coconut trees looked beaten with leaves dangling from the top.

Of the more than 47,000 population of Guiuan, more than two thousand were injured. A hundred perished.

Yolanda went on to inflict greater damage in the adjoining town of Leyte. Survivors said there is no exact number of those who died but definitely higher than the 6,000 the Aquino government wants to believe. They said if one totals the unidentified bodies buried in several mass graves, Yolanda claimed more than 15,000 lives.

Guiuan survivors  3 days after Yolanda struck last year.

Guiuan survivors 3 days after Yolanda struck last year.

One year after, gloom is still palpable in Tacloban, the capital of Leyte, although the residents have resumed their lives and are struggling to move on.

But it is not in Tacloban that President Aquino will be marking the first year of the tragedy.
It is here in Guiuan that President Aquino will report to the nation on how his government managed the worst disaster to have happened in this generation’s living memory.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the President will turn over housing units to the families displaced by the typhoon that destroyed almost everything standing.
Coloma said, “The President would no longer go to Tacloban City in Leyte where most people were killed during the height of the typhoon.”

Survivors gather for a  launching of rehabilitation of Manicani with the help of Nickel Asia Corporation. Feb. 2014.

Survivors gather for a launching of rehabilitation of Manicani with the help of Nickel Asia Corporation. Feb. 2014.

Given the political hostilities between Aquino and his officials, especially Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, and Tacloban City mayor Alfred S. Romualdez, Guiuan is not only a safe choice. It is an inspired choice.
Guiuan is a good example of of “resilience” as defined by the United Nations Development Programme which is “the capacity to recover quickly from a difficult situation such as disasters.”

The other element of resilience which is “the ability to adapt quickly to changing situations such as a changing climate” remains to seen but under the competent leadership of its hardworking mayor, Christopher “Sheen” Gonzales, private sector and the international community, are positive about Guiuan’s ability to rise from the traumatic experience.

That was noted by Undersecretary Danilo Antonio of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery when he guested at the turnover of more than 400 houses built by Nickel Asia Corporation to Yolanda victims in the island of Manicani, part of Guiuan, last Wednesday.

NAC's Dennis Zamora and PARR Undersecretary Danilo Antonio are joined by the barangay captains for the ceremonial groundbreaking for Manicani's multi-purpose hall.

NAC’s Dennis Zamora and PARR Undersecretary Danilo Antonio are joined by the barangay captains for the ceremonial groundbreaking for Manicani’s multi-purpose hall.

Antonio said, “Kayo ang unang tinamaan. At una rin kayo sa bumangon. (You were the first ones who were hit but you were also the first ones who stood up.)“

Last February,three months after Yolanda struck, Nickel Asia Corporation, which owns a non-operating mine in the island, started building the more than 400 houses for Manicani residents.

“This is just a start,” said Dennis Zamora, NAC senior vice president for marketing, who led the turnover of the houses , adding that working together, there are more things that they could accomplish.

Aquino should see how Manicani is bouncing back. It is something that he can tell the world about.

Guiuan rises with a lot of help from mining firm


By Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files

Photos by Mario Ignacio IV

Yolanda survivors Lito G. Abucejo, 47, a carpenter and his wife, Rebecca, 44, marked the 100th day after the super typhoon slammed into Manicani Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, in a newly-built house.

The Abucejos have folded their United Nations-donated tent, which was their shelter the past three months, and are now living in a new structure built where their old house once stood.

The Abucejo’s new house is one of the more than 400 being built by Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC), which owns a non-operating nickel mine in Manicani.

Coco lumber felled by Yolanda are being used for the 30-square meter houses, being built on the property of the survivors. They are expected to last four to five years.

NAC and the local government will be working on a long-term rehabilitation and development of the island, where Yolanda made its first landfall last Nov. 8.

Aside from the houses in Manicani Island, NAC will also be underwriting the construction of 10 barangay halls in Guiuan and the reconstruction of the Guiuan Cathedral. The rehabilitation project is estimated to cost about P100 million.

Lito and Rebecca Abucejo shovel the concrete foundation of their house being built by Nickel Asia Corporation. Looking on are Usec Vic Batac of the Office of the Presidential  Adviser on Reconstruction and Rehabilitation; Dennis Zamora, NAC senior VP for marketing; and Guiuan Mayor Christopher Gonzales.

Lito and Rebecca Abucejo shovel the concrete foundation of their house being built by Nickel Asia Corporation. Looking on are Usec Vic Batac of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Reconstruction and Rehabilitation; Dennis Zamora, NAC senior VP for marketing; and Guiuan Mayor Christopher Gonzales.

At the launching of the Guiuan rehabilitation program recently, NAC President Gerry Brimo and NAC Senior Vice President for Marketing Undersecretary Dennis Zamora assured the residents of Manicani that their participation has “nothing to do with mining.”

“This is not about mining. This is about helping each other,” Zamora said.

Brimo told Manicani residents, “We are here to help.We need your trust.”

Undersecretary Vic Batac, who represented PARR Secretary Panfilo “Ping” Lacson during the launch of the Guiuan reconstruction, explained that it is the private sector, like NAC, that is leading in the rehabilitation of Yolanda-damaged areas.

That is good, he said because although the government is allotting money for the rehabilitation, government bureaucracy does not move as fast as the private sector.

Guiuan Mayor Christopher “Sheen” Gonzales said Manicani is close to his heart because that is his mother ‘s place. He said when Yolanda slammed into Guiuan early morning of Nov. 8, he thought it was the end of the world. For three to four hours, he recalled, they had to endure the the deafening fury of Yolanda. “Akala naming mamatay na kami, (We thought we were going to die.)”

After the storm, the whole of Guiuan was flattened. Roofs were blown away, buildings were destroyed. Less than 100 of the almost 50,000 population perished. In Manicani, one died.

The low casualty rate was due to the pre-typhoon preparations of the local government.

Gonzales said the Nickel Asia’s rehabilitation project for Guiuan shows that “They care for us.”
“Let’s cooperate,” he enjoined the residents.

Manicani residents are thankful that NAC is taking care of constructing their new houses. What they need now are means of livelihood. Fisherman Edgardo Padero, who survived Yolanda by taking refuge under the table, said his boat and “baklad” (fishing net) were destroyed.

Lecenia Cometa, a councilwoman in Barangay Hamorawon, recalled that while Yolanda was smashing into their island and their house, all 16 of them hid under a table that sits 10. Nimfa Cabusora, Barangay Hamorawod treasurer, said they survived the fury of Yolanda by hiding inside the cabinet.

Like Padero, their fishing nets were washed out by the typhoon together with their Petromax.

They are hoping more kind-hearted companies would help them with their fishing equipment.

(VERA Files
is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

Guiuan folks still struggle for their basic needs


Text and photos by Mario Ignacio IV,VERA Files

GUIUAN, Eastern Samar- One week after typhoon Yolanda made its first landfall in this coastal town, residents are still in dire need of basic necessities like food, drinking water, fuel to cook their food and shelter.
They are asking for assistance to repair their houses and to buy equipment and tools for their livelihood. Fishing equipment for fishermen and farming tools for farmers.

Homes, hospitals, and schools have all been destroyed. While some could still be used after major repairs, many have been flattened and need to be rebuilt.

Security in the town also needs to be re-established.

A boulevard of broken houses and dreams

A boulevard of broken houses and dreams

Guiuan was the first to be hit by Yolanda early morning of Friday, Nov. 8. A coastal town composed of 60 barangays, most residents are fisherfolk and farmers.

None of Guiuan’s 47, 087 residents was spared by the fury of Yolanda. Ninety-nine died, 16 are missing and 2,432 sustained injuries.

Of the 99 who perished, 18 died inside the Our Lady of Fatima Church at Barangay Pagnamitan, which was being used at that time as an evacuation center. During the typhoon, the walls of the church collapsed, unable to withstand the storm of wind and water. Marlon Marquez lost his wife and three children.

The town’s small and modest airport is functioning despite the damage. Helicopters from the United States are using it to bring in supplies and medical teams. The helicopters also carry residents from isolated barangays to Guiuan airport from where they wait for wait for planes that would take them to either Cebu or Manila.

The airport has become the hub of the area.The day we were there, there were some people from nearby towns to request for assistance from aid workers. They also sought media for coverage of their towns hoping to bring their plight to the attention of national officials and humanitarian groups. “Papaano naman ang ibang bayan ng Samar (How about other towns of Samar?)” asked Boyboy Probo of Balangiga, a town 70 kilometres from the airport.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

Guiuan: first hit, almost leveled, late aid


Text and photos by Jose Bayani D. Baylon

Immediately upon landing it became obvious to me that while there was a semblance of order, this was fragile because three days had passed and no relief had been delivered to Guiuan in Eastern Samar.

Guiuan was the first to be hit by typhoon Yolanda Friday morning. If you look at a map, you will see that parts of Eastern/southern Samar actually protect Leyte from the Pacific Ocean.

This medical/humanitarian trip to Guian, which hosts Nickel Asia’s non-operating mine site on Manicani island, was the idea of Manny Zamora, Nickel Asia chairman. He had wanted it Monday but we needed time to do the basics for the trip- getting doctors, buying medicines, buying generator sets, and getting permission to fly.

Please click here (VERA Files) for the rest of the story.
A family of survivors, now refugees