Bantayan Island execs say devastation just temporary setback

THE POULTRY industry on Bantayan Island is severely affected during the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” last week. Trizer D. Mansueto

After Supertyphoon “Yolanda” made landfall on Bantayan Island on Nov. 8, the Bantayanons anxiously came out of their shelters to check on the damage.

What they saw was massive destruction: trees uprooted, power lines cut off, houses wrecked and town halls damaged. Families headed to evacuation centers, shaking their heads.

As a result of being pummeled by strong gusts of wind, 90 percent of the infrastructure on the island were either destroyed or damaged.

Reports received by the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) show that most of the residents in Bantayan, Sta. Fe and Madridejos towns on Bantayan Island suffered from the fury of Supertyphoon Yolanda.

Affected were 14,632 of the 16,258 families in Bantayan; 6,829 of the 7,588 families in Madridejos; 5,335 of 5,928 families in Sta. Fe, according to the RDRRMC.

Reports from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council showed that Bantayan had 15 deaths while Madridejos and Sta. Fe had three each.

Bantayan Mayor Chris Ian Escario said the casualties in the town were not because they were unprepared. “They were accidentally pinned down by toppled trees or were buried under the rubble of their own homes,” he said.

When the typhoon was over, the Bantayan local governments immediately dispatched municipal employees to clear the roads to facilitate rescue operations and to start the distribution of relief assistance to affected residents.

Danilo Despi, Bantayan town councilor, said the municipal government immediately distributed relief items.

“We also assisted the evacuees. Fearing that there would be a shortage of relief goods, the mayor even ordered the purchase of sacks of rice grains from private businessmen just to be sure that it was sufficient,” he said.

Asked about the repercussions that the calamity brought to Bantayan, Mayor Escario said the entire island would really suffer but he was optimistic that this would just be a temporary setback.

Bantayan’s white sand beach lures tourists to  the island. The resorts here are also cheaper compared to  the more well-known beach destinations in the country.

Aside from danggit (dried rabbitfish), Bantayan  is also known as the “egg basket” of the Visayas because the poultry here supplies eggs to the Visayas and Mindanao.

Bantayan Island hosts a number of poultry farms that produce more than a million eggs a day. While there are farms that can produce 5,000 eggs a day, there are also those capable of producing 300,000 eggs a day.

But both the tourism and egg industries on the island were affected by the typhoon.

Although there are resorts that sustained enormous damage, there are  those with less severe damage so these can continue operating.

But the tourist-oriented establishments would have to lower their rates further to serve as a come-on for more visitors and reinvigorate the tourism industry here.

The poultry industry, however, was severely affected by the typhoon.

Because of the typhoon, many farms were devastated, forcing growers to sell live chickens at P20 each rather than have them die and sustain further losses.

“There is nothing to fear,” said Warlito Causing, in charge of operations of Agrinex Marketing, one of the biggest poultry farms on the island.

“This is just a temporary setback. Although our chicken coops may have been shattered, we are used to this,” he added.

Although farm owners may suffer losses, they will have to take the bitter pill.

“Sacrifices had to be made on the part of the owners but give it three months, then we will once again be back in full operations,” Causing said.

He also gave the assurance that the workers would not lose their jobs because they were being tapped to rebuild the chicken coops.

Causing said it would take about two weeks to build a chicken coop that can house 5,000 birds.

Mayor Escario remains optimistic despite the devastation.

“What we are in right now is temporary,” he said. “I believe in the resilience of the Bantayanons. This is just a temporary setback, but we will eventually rise again although it may take sometime.”

It will take months before power lines are fixed and for the people to rebuild their homes. It may also take the same amount of time for the poultry industry to recover.

But everything eventually will.

“Yes, I, too, believe that we will rise again,” Councilor Despi said. “We have been through several storms before and the lessons of the past only  made us  stronger and more experienced.”