Inquirer newsboy picks up the pieces after ‘Sendong’

CAGAYAN de Oro City—Inquirer news-boy Alvin Alferez had only one thing in mind when floodwaters swamped his house at the height of Tropical Storm “Sendong” on  Dec. 17.

That was to bring his family to safety.

Alferez, 57, led his wife and their only child through the rampaging waters that eventually swept away their house, which stood only a few meters away from the Ysalina Bridge.

He spent the whole of Dec. 18 settling his family at an evacuation center.

But only a day later, Alferez was back at his usual routine: delivering the Inquirer to  his clients.

More than three weeks after the disaster struck nearly two dozen villages here and left more than 700 dead, Alferez is feeling a bit settled even though he and his family still live in a tent that was provided by the Rotary Club International’s Shelter Box.

Every day, after making his newspaper deliveries, Alferez would settle himself in a corner of Apolinar Velez St. where he sells candies, cigarettes and softdrinks, among other stuff.

“There is nothing much else to do,” considering how the floods had devastated his city, said Alferez.

He said he was at least happy that his family survived the disaster and that a lot of help came their way.

Alferez was among the recipients of the Inquirer Foundation’s assistance program. He got P10,000 in cash, dry goods and a gas stove.

Raymund Ybañez’s house in Sitio Tambo, Macasandig, was also destroyed in the floods.

“All that I earned as an Inquirer newsboy was washed away. Nothing was left,” Ybañez said.

But the fact that the floods spared his life and that of his family was enough to make Ybañez smile.

“What is important is we are all alive and we can still do something about it,” he said.

Like Alferez, Ybañez is trying to get back on his feet and has returned to selling the Inquirer, his main means of livelihood for nearly 10 years now.

“Our appliances were bought with what I earned as an Inquirer newsboy, including the gifts we received each year with the Inquirer,” he said, recounting the things he lost to the floods.

Joey Abrea, an Inquirer newsboy for the past 17 years, said being an Inquirer newsboy really pays.

He said he was able to help send his younger sister to the state-run Mindanao State University of Science and Technology from his earnings.

“She is about to graduate with a degree in public administration. I am proud of being a newsboy,” Abrea said.

From his earnings, he was able to save up to buy some animals which he raises in his backyard for extra income.

“All of this was because of the money I earned from Inquirer, the No. 1 national newspaper here in Cagayan de Oro,” Abrea said.

The Christmas party that the Inquirer threw for the newsboys here last Wednesday became a reunion  for the newsboys and their families after the devastating floods.

With their wives and children, some 50 newsboys also got the surprise of their lives when they received some cash assistance from the Inquirer.

Edwin Sacramed, the Inquirer national sales manager, Karl Sumbeling of the Mindanao sales office, and other sales officers from Manila and the Visayas, said they were elated to see the newsboys continuing with their work  despite the tragedy.

“There’s a saying that ‘what doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger,’” Sacramed said.

According to Sumbeling, that Wednesday, the group of  Inquirer officers had earlier visited the Inquirer newsboys in Iligan City, which also suffered from the floods. Bobby Lagsa, Inquirer Mindanao