Panay journalists tell own ‘Yolanda’ stories

ROXAS CITY—Journalists on Panay Island who struggled to continuously report on the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” and the suffering in their communities were telling their own stories as well.

The houses of at least 200 media workers in Capiz and Aklan provinces were damaged or destroyed even as most of them were on 24/7 duty.

Many were away from their families and deployed to evacuation centers, and critical areas when Yolanda came.

“I was in our station as the howling winds shattered glass windows and doors. I wanted to ensure that our personnel, equipment and office would be spared but I also felt bad not knowing what was happening to my family,” Joseph Silvias, station manager of dyOW Bombo Radyo Roxas, told members of a team from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

The NUJP team on Dec. 5-7 met with media workers in Capiz, Aklan and Iloilo to gather information and insights on the supertyphoon’s impact on the community media and to determine their needs post-Yolanda.

Silvias said he could not contact his wife and could not use his motorcycle and had to walk for five hours to reach their house within the city because of fallen trees, electric posts and debris. His house was among those damaged.

Impassable roads

One of the station’s reporters and anchorman, Ronnie Bulacan, walked eight hours throughout the night from Pontevedra town to Roxas City because the roads were impassable to vehicles.

“I wanted to return to the station as soon as possible because I wanted to air my interviews with the victims,” said Bulacan, 27, who has been a reporter for two years.

Around midnight before the typhoon hit, Bulacan joined some social workers and volunteers who were going to deliver relief to evacuated residents of Pilar town.

On their way back to Roxas City, they were stranded in Pontevedra after the roads became impassable. He, along with the social workers and volunteers, had to seek refuge in houses when iron roofings started to be blown away by strong winds.

Hungry and wet from the rain, Bulacan walked with volunteers from 1 a.m. of Nov. 8 reaching the outskirts of Roxas City at 6:30 a.m. and the station at 9 a.m.

“I was ready to fall down because of hunger and exhaustion, but I persisted as I saw people on the road crying or stunned,” Bulacan said.

Employees of dyVR of Radio Mindanao Network in Roxas City were drenched inside the station after the roof was blown away, according to station manager Elizer Abarra. “I was thinking of my wife and child but it was only hours later that I could be with them,” he said.

In the capital town of Kalibo in Aklan, broadcaster Jodel Rentillo of Radyo Todo-Aklan was hospitalized after his motorcycle flipped after it was hit by an electric wire from a fallen electric post.

Radio stations went off air due to the power blackout and damage to their equipment and facilities. Silvias said there were Facebook posts complaining why their station went off air after the supertyphoon hit. “Some people probably forgot that we were victims, too, and that our station and equipment were damaged. But the public expects a lot from the media in times of calamities,” he said.

Blackout

The blackout and the isolation of some areas have made the continued operations of radio stations more critical. Radio stations in Roxas, which had signed off, had to return on air last week to help refute false tsunami alarms that had triggered a massive evacuation of thousands of residents who fled to hinterland villages.

Despite being victims themselves, the media workers continued reporting on relief operations and even distributed to other victims assistance intended for them.

Iloilo City-based reporters covering the devastation and relief operations are also struggling to cope with their experiences.

Most, including veteran reporters, were overwhelmed by the extent of the devastation and the suffering of victims.

Several reported difficulty in sleeping, being edgy and emotionally drained. Others had difficulty writing accounts of victims.

But despite being victims themselves and faced with difficulties, the media workers tried to continue with their jobs.