Christmas tree rises amid rubble in Tacloban

TREE OF HOPE Hundreds of people watch the lighting of the giant Christmas tree in front of City Hall. VER NOVENO/CONTRIBUTOR

TACLOBAN CITY—From the trash left behind by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” has risen a tree of hope.

Despite the thousands of people killed and the destruction wrought by the worst typhoon to hit the country in decades, Christmas will still be observed in this unsinkable city.

Signifying the start of the Yuletide season, a 55-foot-high Christmas tree has been lighted to the cheers of residents on the grounds of Tacloban City Hall on Kanhura Hill.

But it is no simple Christmas tree—its decor includes the used water bottles and galvanized iron pipes left behind by Yolanda when it raged through this city of 221,000 people on Nov. 8.

“The tragedy should not give us a reason not to celebrate Christmas and I am glad that City Hall has its own Christmas tree,” said Bella Cular, 45, whose house on Santo Niño Street was among those destroyed by the typhoon

“That gives us hope that all is not lost, that Christmas is still with us,” Cular said.

Little stars

The unique tree was put up by personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), who also used materials from their office.

Senior Jail Officer Eric Elizan of the BJMP, who designed the tree, said his men collected some 1,500 empty and colored plastic bottles, which they then cut into little stars.

The plastic bottles and iron pipes were collected from the debris in the streets.

Aside from BJMP personnel, 70 inmates helped cut the bottles into small stars.

The BJMP personnel then assembled the tree in front of the City Hall on Monday using the iron pipes as the frame of the tree. They attached the little stars and about 500 lights onto it.

Very special tree

The work took them two days to complete.

Elizan described the Christmas tree as “very special” considering that Tacloban is still reeling from the effects of Yolanda.

“It may look simple to some but for us, it’s very special as this will bring joy to our people. It heralds that Christmas is coming despite the tragedy,” Elizan said.

City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, his wife, Councilor Cristina Gonzalez-Romualdez, and cousin businessman Benjamin Philip Romualdez led the lighting ceremony.

‘It inspires us all’

Members of the Tzu Chi Foundation, a Taiwanese group, witnessed the event.

The foundation has launched a cash-for-work program, giving temporary employment to more than 10,000 typhoon survivors in the city. They clean up the streets strewn with debris.

Councilor Romualdez said it was “nice” to put up a Christmas tree after the onslaught by Yolanda.

Fr. Amadeo Alvero, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Palo, said the tree would “inspire us all because we know that in spite of what happened, we can still celebrate Christmas.”

Faith endures

Alvero said that the traditional Simbang gabi (dawn Mass), to start on Dec. 15, would be held even if churches had been destroyed or damaged—and even without electricity.

Alvero is one of the assisting priests of Santo Niño Church in the biggest parish in Tacloban.

“We will continue with the highest form of prayer, which is the Holy Mass, despite the tragedy,” Alvero said. “We may have lost everything but our faith will continue to live.”

Curfew remains

Chief Supt. Henry Lusanas, police regional director for Eastern Visayas, said the 8 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew in the city would not be lifted as long as the situation had not normalized.

The curfew will be lifted only when power is completely restored in the city, Lusanas said.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla has vowed to restore power by Dec. 24. At present, parts of the city’s main streets have power from the Leyte II Electric Cooperative.

As of Thursday, the official death toll from Yolanda stood at 5,982, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Of that number, 5,133 were from Leyte—including 2,367 unidentified victims in Tacloban.

There are still 1,779 missing and more than 27,000 injured.

Damage to infrastructure has reached P18.2 billion while damage to agriculture stands at P17.3 billion.

A total of 12.1 million people were affected by the storm, 3.9 million of whom were displaced, the NDRRMC said.

Nearly 94,000 people are staying in over 300 evacuation centers.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development said it had distributed 2.9 million food packs and nearly 323,000 liters of water to survivors.—With a report from Nikko Dizon

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