Tabaco City’s ancient church didn’t escape typhoon wrath

HOUSE OF WORSHIP The St. John the Baptist Church in Tabaco City, Albay, has become the refuge of residents during the onslaught of Typhoon “Rolly.” The church’s roof, however, was blown off when the typhoon battered the Bicol region, forcing evacuees to stay in the convent, says Fr. Jeronimo Sevilla, the assistant parish priest. —MARK ALVIC ESPLANA

Heritage structures in Tabaco City, Albay province, were not spared by Typhoon “Rolly” (international name: Goni) when it pummeled the Bicol region on Sunday.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the typhoon blew off the roofs of the St. John the Baptist Church and the Manalang heritage house in Tabaco, both built in the 1800s.

He said five of six towns in the first congressional district of Albay  were “inaccessible by all forms of communications”  as of Monday. These are Tabaco and the towns of Bacacay, Malinao, Malilipot and Tiwi, where Rolly made a second landfall.

TORN Portions of St. John the Baptist Church’s roof in Tabaco City are torn after Typhoon “Rolly” crossedAlbay province. —GEORGE GIO BRONDIAL

Lagman said that while Tabaco did not record any typhoon-related fatality, almost 50 percent of residential houses were “in various stages of disrepair,” while 50 percent  of houses on San Miguel Island, also in the city, were destroyed.

The damaged structures also included the public market, school buildings and the old and new City Hall.

Many fishermen also lost their boats.

Lagman said most of the 7,000 families (25,000 people) who were evacuated “have no more homes to return to.”

—NESTOR CORRALES