Store opens amid fear in Tacloban

EVEN the police force has been brought to its knees by Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” which was followed by chaos and criminality, driving businessmen to seek safer places elsewhere. One businessman keeps his faith in the city, though, and confronts the risks normal to businesses but are double in Tacloban. LITO TECSON/CEBU DAILY NEWS

TACLOBAN CITY—On what used to be busy streets in this now desolate city, a rare sight appears—tents selling basic items like rice, canned goods, noodles, eggs, candles and clothes.

While more than 100 stores had closed after they fell victims to an orgy of looting and lawlessness that followed Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” one businessman seemed to still have some faith   in the city’s people.

Kenneth Uy, who is based here, opened Big Daddy Rolling Store on Del Pilar and Zamora streets, which used to be thriving commercial areas until Yolanda and the looting struck.

The store is a row of 15 tents that sell  the most basic of items “at regular prices,” according to Uy.

The store disappears at the start of a daily curfew that has been in force in the city as local authorities appeared helpless about the looting. It reappears the next day.

“We have to help our people,” said Uy. “Our rolling store will be a big help for them,” he said.

With his store, Uy said residents wouldn’t have to wait anymore for relief stocks or go to Ormoc City in Leyte province or Catbalogan City in Samar province to buy food.

“We assure our people that we will sell our items at regular prices,” said Uy, whose father heads the city’s chamber of commerce and industry. “Our aim is to help our people and, at the same time, help restore our economy,” Uy said.

Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla, who has not been heard from for days since Yolanda struck, said he was optimistic that Leyte would recover despite the devastation  Yolanda brought.

“Aside from our national government, various governments of the world are also helping us recover from this tragedy in terms of assistance to our people at this time,” said Petilla, brother of Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla.

He said relief items had started reaching  villages in 30 of the province’s 40 towns and one city.

The governor, accused of abandoning the province to  flee the wrath of Yolanda, said the arrival of relief stocks had brought down cases of looting.

Looting, he said, had been widespread in the towns of Palo, Tanauan and Dulag.

Leyte is composed of Baybay City and 40 municipalities. The cities of Ormoc and Tacloban are located in Leyte but are not under the administration of the province.

Ormoc is considered  a chartered city while Tacloban is categorized as a highly urbanized city.

Both Tacloban and Ormoc were devastated by Yolanda, although the hardest hit was Tacloban where hundreds of people were killed when wind surges destroyed everything in its path.

Looting was rampant in Tacloban and led to the closure of nearly all business establishments.

Policemen and soldiers have been deployed to downtown Tacloban to secure commercial areas and prevent looting.

Petilla called for unity among the province’s people and its leaders to bring Leyte back on its feet. He said it might take at least five years for the province to fully recover.

He denied reports that he went to Cebu to flee Yolanda, saying he has been at home in Palo town during the typhoon and had not left the province.

Maloth Galenzoga, businesswoman and defeated mayoral candidate, had told a news conference in Cebu that Leyte residents felt like a “ship being abandoned by our captain” in the absence of Petilla and Vice Gov. Carlo Loreto.

Petilla said that while the entire province had been devastated, he had yet to officially declare a state of calamity because of the absence of members of the provincial board.

“I have asked some of my staffers to go to the houses of our board members only to be informed that they were out,”  Petilla said.

“We have to officially declare a state of calamity so that we can use our calamity fund,” he said. He could not recall how much of the province’s calamity fund is still intact.