Man who lost everything in 2013 looks to the new year with hope

NEVER SAY DIE After losing everything in a triple whammy that included Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” retired police chief Casimiro Villas says he hasn’t lost hope. DANNY PETILLA/CONTRIBUTOR

A succession of personal tragedies in 2013 could have broken the will of a lesser man to go on living. But not Casimiro Villas, who lost the May 13 elections, lost his retirement savings to an investment scam in August, and lost his entire family to Supertyphoon “Yolanda” on Nov. 8.

“Na-onse, Na-Ponzi, Na- Yolanda!”

In these three words, people in Palo, Leyte, describe the scale of the misfortunes that befell Villas last year, ending tragically when all members of his family—his wife, Nila, 49, daughter Nerissa Perote, 29, sister Evelyn, 37, son-in-law Elmar Perote, 32, and grandson Ezekiel Noah Perote, 11 months—drowned in the storm surges generated by the strongest typhoon to hit this country.

Appearing stoic and strong-willed, the 58-year-old retired police chief said he refused to let his misfortunes dampen his outlook in life and his view of the future.

“There is a reason why God spared me. And I will spend the rest of my life trying to find out what,” the gray-haired Villas said.

Faith in God

Looking up to a brooding sky from his roofless house in Barangay Cogon here on New Year’s Day, Villas claimed his faith in God became stronger after these tragedies, saying he drew spiritual strength from the biblical story of Job who never lost his faith in God despite all the trials and tragedies thrown at him.

“They (Paloanos) say my story is like his (Job’s) and just like him I am down, but not out,” said Villas, who claimed he regretted an earlier flirtation with the idea of suicide when he realized his entire family had perished.

“I regretted that, and I have asked God for forgiveness,” Villas said.

“I started out as a kargador (porter) and became the police chief of this town. God has been good to me,” Villas said.

Political loser

In the May 13 local elections, Villas was the only one of eight town council candidates who lost on the Liberal Party team led by Mayor Remedios Petilla. He finished ninth, losing by 31 votes.

Most people here believe he was cheated out of the last spot on the town council because of his independent stand on local issues. But Villas said he lost because he was a freshman politician who had no money.

“I was a newcomer and I had no money to fund an effective campaign,” Villas said.

Then in August, he fell victim to an investment scam that preyed on retiring policemen.

Villas, who retired at 56 in May 2011, claimed he was sweet-talked into investing P700,000 of his retirement savings by SPO Leodegario Ortega, a finance officer in the regional office of the Philippine National Police in Tacloban City.

Ortega has disappeared, and with him millions of pesos of the retirees’ hard-earned money.

Villas offered a reason why he became a victim of the pyramid scam. “I was not the only one. There were many police retirees who became victims of this scam. Almost all of the money I worked for in 33 years in the police service was gone,” Villas said.

Inspiring story

Known here as “Bunsoy,” which means the youngest one in Waray, Villas’ story of   courage and fortitude has become a source of inspiration to all who survived Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), which killed about 1,200 residents of this town.

“He is a decent public servant who deserves our support after what happened to him,” said Teodoro Sevilla, a former mayor of Palo who endorsed Villas to be the police chief in 2010.

Villas denied that the emotional and psychological toll of losing his entire family drove him crazy a few days after the typhoon when he was seen walking around with a lighted flashlight in daytime.

“I was in shock and I could not hear what people were saying, but I am OK now,” Villas said, claiming years of training in psychological warfare in the police and the military had steeled his resolve to face any problem in life.

Now, Villas spends his days leading a group of 15 typhoon survivors in this coastal village as they collectively try to rebuild their shattered lives.

“People may say I am the unluckiest man. But I am here, and I am alive. And I say thank God for that,” Villas said.

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