Oplan Hatid gives free rides in Metro Manila for Yolanda survivors

Oplan Hatid began as a wish to help Typhoon Yolanda victims arriving in Manila travel to their loved ones in the city—for free. 

 

This then quickly snowballed overnight into a relief effort that both Villamor Airbase and the organizers are struggling to manage. The vehicles of the volunteers have taken up the parking space of the airbase and are even causing traffic.

 

James Deakin, the Editor-at-Large of automobile enthusiast “C! Magazine”, who is also handling the communications of this effort, said that the volunteers as of now outnumber the evacuees, the latter of which arrive on C-130 planes roughly every two hours, while the former keep pouring in at all times.

 

But he also said that this is a good problem to have. “It's a great cause and I'm centered in that industry of motoring and I'm just happy to help,” he said in a phone interview with GMA News Online.

 

It's also more proof of humanity's overflowing good will.

 

"It's crazy...I've spent so much time on the phone and on the internet. It's insane. People want to help, so they contact you directly. I'm trying to ease the burden off Junep there by taking the communications so you can do what you do on the ground."

 

Deakin was roped into the now 24-hour operation by a friend from the motoring industry, Junep Ocampo, who is one of the organizers of what Deakin called “the final link in the chain of the relief efforts.” They both used to cover the motoring beat.

 

How to register 

 

Volunteers simply show up and register their intent at the Volunteer Transportation desk, then wait to be called.

 

“They register, the survivors arrive, we give rides. We try to match them up to different people on a white board,” Deakin explained. “You really just have to turn up. We can't give you a schedule because it might take you two and a half hours to get here, so we just ask who's free and they show up.”

 

Some of the drivers have their own initiative. They either bring their own welcome kits containing blankets and food, or take the new arrivals to a market or grocery store to shop for what they need. Meanwhile, others have expressed apprehension about taking in strangers into their personal vehicles. But Deakin was quick to reassure them, having driven a few people himself. His first passengers were a family of five to seven.

 

“It's not just about the ride, it's also about the emotional investment you've made in opening up your car, and yourself, to a stranger and taking them home,” he explained. “These people are more frightened of us than we are of them.”

 

However, he noted that, “It's a lot to ask a volunteer to go down all the way to Isabella, so volunteers chip in and we drive them to the bus station. It happens live over the microphone, so it's very fluid.”

 

On Deakin's Facebook account can be found a story about a couple who could not be driven to where they needed to go.

 

“Earlier, when one couple weren’t able to get a ride to Olongapo for a few hours, one of the volunteers asked over the microphone if anyone wanted to chip in for bus fare to help people like them. They raised P10,000 in one minute. That’s what we call 'bayanihan on wheels',” the post read. 

 

Other tasks

 

But not all volunteers are drivers. Some are traffic and area marshalls while others are counselors. Deakin emphasized that one need not be qualified to become the latter, as some times, all the survivors need are people willing to lend an ear for their travails.

 

“The response has been amazing. People bring cooked food and clothes and when the survivors arrive, they pick out what they need,” shared Deakin. “Then they walk outside of the base—about half a kilometer—and stand on the sidewalk with their bags, waiting for a ride. That's what I think would have happened had we not got this operation going. We're taking care of the last leg of the relief effort.”

 

Some of the people Deakin has driven to the homes of their relatives relayed that they were surprised upon arriving at the airbase.

 

“Imagine waiting five or six days at Tacloban airport without anything to eat. Then you get to Villamor and you're well-taken care of,” said Deakin. “'Parang fiesta,' some of them said.”

 

Donations are also welcome, whether monetary or in kind. Deakin's Facebook profile states that for now, they have enough clothes and supplies, but not enough underwear or garterized shorts. The money will be used to fund transportation for those who wish to go somewhere too far for volunteers to drive.

 

“A few missteps before you get it right”

 

Oplan Hatid was hatched on Thursday, November 14, but thanks to social media, the unique relief effort is already inundated. Car manufacturers—Hyundai, Honda, Isuzu, you name it—have even been lending test drive cars to the effort.

 

Managing and maintaining interest, however, is a problem that Deakin and the organizers are still working on. He explained that this is an ongoing effort and that they don't want people to come in just because it's a new thing, or they'd be scrambling for free rides next week.

 

"That's the tricky part. There's so much support and it's a matter of managing it. I am trying to use my personal Facebook page to manage it,” he said. "We had a surplus and we had to start asking people to spread out, pace themselves. Don't come right now, but maybe you can come tonight.”

 

“As far as better organization, we're working on that—mostly Junep and his crew—I am driving and doing the communication for it,” he said.

 

“You make a few missteps before you get it right,” Deakin added. “Now that we have a bit more of a system going, we're seeing a pattern of how many people arrive. We can now say, listen what we'll do is that we'll allow so and so cars...and then start to sort of manage it like that. Maybe tell them at the gate? Maybe you go back to McDonald's can come back in two hours when the next plane arrives?”

 

They have also gotten the coordination of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and that the military simply provided the airbase. 

 

“We are not in any way under threat, so we don't need military help in terms of that,” he said.

 

He also said that Oplan Hatid is confined to the airbase for now because that is where the survivors land. But Deakin noted, “I would like to think Villamor would be able to really clear that area for volunteers on-call.”

 

When asked why he thought that Oplan Hatid got to be so popular, he answered, "You really see your help in action and I think that's why pumutok ito. There's a lack of confidence what with all the bad news and corruption, and they don't know where their aid is going." — KDM, GMA News 

 

For more details on #OplanHatid, Deakin regularly posts updates on his Facebook account.