Hope dims for copra workers amid ‘Yolanda’ ruin

CLEOPE Precila Eclionel won’t live in a tent or an evacuation center and fixes the damage wrought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” on her house in Salcedo, Eastern Samar. RICHARD BALONGLONG/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

MARABUT, SAMAR—More than three weeks after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” struck, Teodulfo Grefiel, 48, is still in disbelief that he has lost his main source of income, copra (dried coconut meat).

Grefiel is one of the coconut farmers who now are at a loss on where to find a source of income.

Edilberto Nieva, head of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) in Eastern Visayas, said that of the more than 72 million coconut trees across the region, 33.82 million had been destroyed by Yolanda.

Marabut is known to be among coconut-producing towns in a region that is largely dependent on the coconut industry. At least 90 percent of the region’s population rely on the coconut industry for their livelihood.

Fishing, the other source of livelihood for the region’s people, also suffered a severe beating from Yolanda.

Grefiel said that prior to Yolanda, his family already had difficulty making ends meet as prices of copra plunged to as low as P15 per kilogram.

When Yolanda struck, Grefiel could only shake his head and look up the heavens for an answer.

“I don’t know what to do now. We all lost our material possessions,” he said.

He and his family now stay in a shanty built from debris.

Marabut, a fourth class town, is considered to be the hardest hit by Yolanda in Samar.

Thousands of coconut trees were toppled and strewn like matchsticks across the town.

They serve as a reminder of Yolanda’s fury and also of the uncertain future that awaits the town’s people.

Prior to Yolanda, PCA has tagged Eastern Visayas as the second largest coconut-producing region in the country.