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BY RAFFY TIMA, GMA NEWS
November 13, 2018
“Prepare to be deployed.”
This phrase would have been a familiar, ordinary instruction from the office. But five years ago this week, nothing was ordinary in the newsroom.
Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) had just wreaked havoc in Tacloban City. One GMA News team has not reported in. They are missing.
The initial directive was for me to help look for them. Coverage was not the priority, it was to search for our missing team.
The next few calls I made were painful. What area where they in when the storm surge hit? How many floors did their hotel have?
Talking to the reporter’s friends, the familiar questions for a search and rescue operation were tough to ask. How tall is she? What is the color of her eyes? What is the length of her hair?
Initial information that came in was not encouraging. The hotel they had stayed in was totally washed out. Some of their personal belongings have been found.
But having covered so many disasters before, I knew all initial information, especially when handed down from several sources, could easily be wrong or only half right. Everybody was hoping for the best.
Twelve hours after the super typhoon hit came the good news. They finally reported in. The whole team is all right.
Now back to being a reporter.
Arriving in Cebu on November 9, Jun Veneracion was able to secure permission from a contact for us to tag along a Philippine Navy boat going to Tacloban. Aside from the very limited flights going in, a boat ride was the only way for us to reach Tacloban with all our heavy broadcast equipment.
Thus began our longest trip.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
Cebu. 12:10 a.m., November 10, 2013. We start to sail to Tacloban. But 30 minutes into the trip, we had to turn back. The Navy boat was having engine trouble. The boat captain says we have to transfer to another patrol boat.
Seven hours into the trip, somewhere between Masbate and Biliran Island. The patrol boat we transferred to was not running at full speed so as not to exhaust its engines.
In the heat of the noonday sun, Jun Veneracion is curled in a tiny metal box trying to catch some sleep. I had the privilege of being comfortably perched on my hammock.
Twelve hours into the trip, we see the first signs of destruction as we enter the Janbatas Channel.
Nearing the city of Tacloban, around 5 p.m., we start seeing floating bodies. One of the navy personnel starts counting. For record purposes, he explains.
Nearing the famed San Juanico Bridge, more bodies. The Navy man stops counting. There were too many bodies, and they were drifting. Who knows where they will be when the retrieval team arrives.
As the sun starts to set a day after Typhoon Yolanda hit, we were all wondering what awaits us once we get inside Tacloban.
The last few scenes before night crept in was an ominous sign. Several ships were aground, some crushing houses in its wake. We look at each other: this is going to be one of those worst case scenario coverages. We arrive at the Port of Tacloban around 7 p.m., it was pitch black. It had taken us 17 hours to reach the devastated city.
Tacloban City Port. November 11, 2013. This was the scene that greeted us when we woke up: an unimaginable level of destruction.
All around us, more dead bodies. Our eyes and noses start to get used to the sight and stench of death.
Going inside the city is more of the same. It’s hard to imagine what it might have been like to be in this place when the super typhoon hit.
An all too familiar scene as we go deeper into the city.
A once thriving street of Tacloban has become the depository of Yolanda’s wrath.
As relief supplies came in...
...survivors started going out of the city, lining up for hours hoping to catch a flight to escape the devastation.
With the limited number of transportation, women and children were the priority for what would become one of the biggest airlift operations the country has ever seen.
Most have nothing but the clothes on their back, while some were able to bring their most treasured possessions.
While the exodus continued for days, a ray of hope appeared for those helping in the evacuation.
Some of the soldiers helping out have not slept for days during the operation to ferry survivors out of Tacloban.
Days after Yolanda hit, injured survivors continue to pour into makeshift hospitals set up around the city.
But the message is clear, more help was needed.
The destruction was even more prominent when seen from the air, devastation as far as the eye can see.
Knowing they could only be seen from the air, survivors took to scrawling their messages on rooftops to inform loved ones they have survived Yolanda.
The first mass at Santo Niño Church in Tacloban City after the super typhoon nearly destroyed it is an emotional affair for those who survived and lost loved ones.
Prayers of gratitude and strength from survivors while staring straight into the sky during mass at Santo Niño Church, which was stripped off its roof by the strength of Yolanda.
The GMA News team aboard a Philippine Navy logistics ship that became our home for several days while waiting for buildings in the city to be cleared so we can move in.
With the arrival of foreign aircrafts, more survivors opt to get out of the city.
The innocent smiles of these children belie the misery that they’ve been through. One week after the devastation, more bodies are still being found.
For some, the scene of devastation can be overwhelming.
But as always, the Filipino spirit remains unbreakable, its people steadfast, holding on to each other for strength.
Along with typhoon-related injuries, the city hospital also attended to several childbirths. Amid the death and destruction, a rebirth.
Despite heavy damage, the Tacloban Airport served as a logistics hub, becoming one of the busiest airports in the country at some point as it hosted giant military planes and helicopters from several countries.
Five years have passed. Many have moved on. But a lot still need help.
For some survivors, the trip continues.
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