Taclobanons offer thanksgiving prayers for surviving supertyphoon ‘Yolanda’

A family prays before the replica of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo at Saint Joseph parish church in Tacloban City. —JOEY GABIETA

TACLOBAN CITY—When Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) devastated this city in Leyte province three years ago, Marilyn Villarino thought she and her husband would die.

“I just kept on praying that time. Only prayers and seeking God’s help could help us survive the onslaught,” said Villarino, 38.

To express her gratitude for her family’s new lease on life, Villarino went to the Saint Joseph Church at San Jose District here to pray before a replica of the image of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo. The image is on an 11-day pilgrim visit to the city from Oct. 29 to Nov. 9, a day after the city marks the third anniversary of Yolanda’s onslaught.

This is the first time that the image of the Black Nazarene visited Tacloban.

“I knew that by answering my prayers at that time, He helped us survive the ordeal,” Villarino said.

Their house in Barangay 88 in San Jose, the worst-hit area in Tacloban, was washed out but she and her husband Marvin, 38, survived after they fled just hours before Yolanda made landfall early morning of Nov. 8, 2013. They stayed at the San Jose Elementary School, which was converted into an evacuation center.

The Villarinos now have a one-year-old baby boy.

Fr. Dave Ervie Lajara, Saint Joseph parish priest, said the visit of the miraculous Black Nazarene is important.

“The visit of the Nazarene to our city and parish is a sort of reminder to our people that even during our sufferings, He never left us,” Lajara said.

Despite the tragedy, the priest said Taclobanons were thankful for receiving blessings.

Lajara was referring to the outpouring of support and assistance from various parts of the world after a storm surge generated by Yolanda’s fierce winds submerged the city and killed more than 2,200 people.

He said since the arrival of the image on Oct. 28, the Saint Joseph Church has been full not only with residents but with out of town visitors seeking to pray before the image.

“They are here to thank the Lord and at the same time ask for blessings,” he said.

It was Lajara who asked that the image of the Black Nazarene be brought to Tacloban.

Edwin Lacap, team leader of the group that took the image to Tacloban, said they were happy to bring the replica of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo to the city during this time.

“The visit is significant considering that it coincided with the third anniversary of Yolanda that brought so many sufferings to the people of Tacloban. His visit here will again remind them that He was with them during their ordeal,” Lacap said.