LOGIE Cagnan in a government bunkhouse in Tacloban City. Cagnan was among several “Yolanda” survivors who returned donations that they felt others needed more. JOEY GABIETA
There were times when Villa de la Peña Nachor had nothing to eat, but the 71-year-old widow did the unexpected when an international humanitarian organization came to Tacloban City to give 20-kilogram sacks of rice to victims of Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”
Shortly after receiving her ticket that would entitle her to one sack of rice, Nachor wrote on its back: “Donated back to Tzu Chi Foundation.” She returned the ticket to the volunteers.
“There are families or individuals who need rice more than I do,” said Nachor, a Marian devotee and a former real estate agent.
Like her, a male nurse who stays in a bunkhouse for typhoon survivors in Caibaan area has decided to give up his share because he believes others need it more.
A TRUCK bearing a streamer announcing a cash-for-work program of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation makes its way to communities in need of aid amid debris left by “Yolanda” in Tacloban City.
RICHEL V. UMEL/INQUIRER MINDANAO
“To be honest, it was not that easy for me to decide not to receive my share from Tzu Chi. For one, people say Tzu Chi rice tastes good,” said Logie Cagnan, 34, who works at Divine Word Hospital in Tacloban.
“Eventually, I decided not to take my share and told them (volunteers) to instead give it to others. I realized there were families who deserved their help more,” he added.
‘Touching’
Cagnan’s and Nachor’s show of selflessness has warmed the hearts of Tzu Chi members. “It was so touching that these people who we know have no means chose to give their share to other people,” said Kalam Chan, the head of staff of the foundation.
A Tzu Chi statement listed four other individuals who returned their claim tickets during the rice distribution in July.
Cagnan and Nachor lost their homes and all their belongings during the onslaught of Yolanda on Nov. 8, 2013.
At the height of the typhoon, Cagnan’s house in Barangay (village) 88 was among those swamped by storm surges. On the other hand, Nachor’s two-story house in Barangay 75 was flattened when a barge of the Department of Public Works and Highways was swept inland.
Cagnan now temporarily lives alone in a government bunkhouse. His wife, Maria Gracia, 26, is six months pregnant and is staying with their two children in Manila.
A few meters from the shelter is the house that Nachor built on a private lot after getting the consent of the lot owner. Her husband died from a heart attack in 2010.
In July, Tzu Chi gave away 55,000 sacks of rice donated by Taiwan’s Department of Agriculture to the typhoon survivors in Tacloban, considered the ground zero of the world’s strongest typhoon to make landfall in recent history.
The sacks were distributed at Tacloban City Convention Center and at Leyte Progressive High School, a Chinese school where the foundation now holds office. Each recipient was given a claim ticket.
Aside from Tacloban, Tzu Chi, which was founded by Cheng Ye in 1966 in Taiwan, distributed 150,000 sacks of rice in Palo and Tanauan towns and in Ormoc City, all in Leyte province.
Pleasant surprise
The volunteers were surprised when Cagnan and Nachor returned their tickets.
Cagnan explained that his 20-kg sack of rice might just end up spoiled since he could not consume it all by himself. However, he still receives the 25-kg sack of rice that the Department of Social Welfare and Development gives monthly to him and close to 3,000 families living in bunkhouses in Tacloban.
In the case of Nachor, food was difficult to come by since she no longer gets any rice from the government. She no longer works and depends on the charity of relatives and two Manila-based children—one of them is former Bb. Pilipinas Maja International 1984 Maria Villa Nachor.
“To be honest, I could not depend on them all the time. There were instances when I had nothing to eat. But it’s OK. I can still manage,” she said with a hearty laugh.
Yet, Nachor chose to give up her rice ticket that would have assured her of rice supply good for at least a month. It didn’t even cross her mind to sell the rice that could have earned her P1,100 at P55 per kilogram.
“Well, I am not well-off, but I am alone. There are families or individuals who need rice more than I do. That’s why I decided to give my ticket back to the foundation for them to give my share to those who are most in need,” she said.
Nachor, who has been using a pacemaker for 14 years, finds joy in helping others. “I’m not rich, but in my heart, I am,” she said.