A tattered United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) tent and makeshift buildings cobbled from scavenged materials are the new classrooms for some 400 elementary pupils at Andap village here as the new school year opens Monday.
When disaster strikes, help is almost always on the way. On the first run of Inquirer Care’s (INQ.Care) relief goods distribution to Compostela Valley, one of the hardest hit by Typhoon “Pablo” in Southern Mindanao, the team was shocked by the widespread destruction caused by the supertyphoon. Hearts were torn to pieces seeing houses and constructions on Barangay Valderrama—home to 1,000 families—flat on the ground, children lining up along the roadsides holding up sign boards asking for help and food.
A baby boy whose photos showing him being manhandled by his uncle were posted on the social networking site Facebook more than a month ago is now doing well, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The death toll from Typhoon “Pablo” will likely hit 1,500, making it the second deadliest since the country began keeping records, Benito Ramos, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said on Saturday.
The education cluster of the Typhoon “Pablo” humanitarian operation has seen a flicker of hope for some normalcy in typhoon-devastated areas with the holding of learning sessions among schoolchildren there.
The Aboitiz Group, led by the Aboitiz Foundation, is now accepting donations for areas in Mindanao that were hit by typhoon Pablo. Thousands of families in New Bataan, Compostela Valley, Bukidnon, Iligan, and Davao in Mindanao, and the cities of Dumaguete and Tanjay in Negros Oriental are still in need of help. The Aboitiz Group [...]
Filipinos are a tough breed. Nowhere was this more evident than in heartwarming scenes that unfolded in New Bataan town in the province of Compostela Valley in the aftermath of Typhoon “Pablo.”
The Philippine government’s geological hazard maps show why this farming community was largely washed away by a strong typhoon: “highly susceptible to flooding and landslides.” That didn’t stop some villagers from rebuilding even with bodies still lying under the mud.
With an estimated 300 people dead around them, the people of Compostela Valley are scarred and will remain so for a long time.
At least 43 people died and 25 others injured as Typhoon “Pablo” (international name: Bopha) slammed into the mining province of Compostela Valley Tuesday, the military said.
