Norma Esteban still has to clean up the debris of what remains of her house flattened by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”
But on Thursday, she was at the Aklan Catholic College gymnasium in Kalibo town in Aklan province with other volunteers packing relief stocks for typhoon survivors.
“I also want to help my fellow victims. You can still be compassionate even if you’re also a victim,” she told the Inquirer during a break in preparing about 800 relief packs.
Each pack contained 10 kilograms of rice and an 8-by-12-foot double-coated plastic sheet that would serve as a temporary roof of a makeshift house.
The packs were to be distributed by Task Force Tabang, composed of Disaster Preparedness Organization-Aklan, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap, Pagtilibyog It Mga Maintok nga Mangunguma (Union of Small Farmers) and Aklan Catholic College.
The relief packs would be given to survivors who lost their houses in three barangays in New Washington town and two barangays in Kalibo, said George Calaor, Task Force Tabang coordinator.
The funds for the relief packs were raised by the charity organization Basics based in the United Arab Emirates.
“The destruction is very extensive along the coast,” said Basics coordinator Lisa Kingsley who was with four other foreign volunteers at the packing center.
The supertyphoon destroyed 33,742 houses and damaged 51,555 others in Aklan, according to Gov. Florencio Miraflores.
Those who lost their houses said the plastic sheets would provide cover for their makeshift houses until they could rebuild their homes.
Homeless
Esteban, her mother and three children have been staying at the house of her brother-in-law.
“I hope we can rebuild our house again because it is really different if you are staying in your own house, no matter how small,” she said.
The victims’ plight has been worsened by heavy rain.
“We tried to sleep while sitting last night because our roof was dripping from the rain,” said Federico Custodio, also one of the volunteers at the packing center.
Custodio, 59, lost his house in Barangay Tambak in New Washington, about 9 kilometers southeast of Kalibo.
“We would welcome more food assistance, but we would be happier if the government could help us rebuild our house soon,” he told the Inquirer.
As the repair and rebuilding of houses started, residents reported higher prices of construction and hardware materials, especially iron nails, galvanized iron sheets, lumber and bamboo.
The running joke in Kalibo is that it is more difficult to find carpenters than doctors because of the increased demand for construction and repair work.
But not all carpenters have taken advantage of the higher offers for work.
“I want to work but I have to repair my house first,” said Jimmy Olladas, also from Tambak.
Brownout
Aklan survivors also still have to bear with the province-wide brownout that was on its 12th day on Thursday.
Electricity has been restored only in parts of Kalibo, Ibajay and Nabas towns and Boracay Island.
Aklan Electric Cooperative Inc. (Akelco) has been cut off from the Visayas grid passing Negros Occidental and Iloilo provinces due to the massive damage to transmission lines, according to Lorenzo Laserna, Akelco consultant.
Generators have become a common fixture in the province, but the costs of operations of businesses have shot up.
Lorne Motor Accessories has been spending P1,200 per day for the fuel of their generator that operates from 7 a.m. to
7 p.m., according to store employee Andelene Calaguio.
The store purchased the generator at P30,600 but the price of generators had gone up as demand soared.