After four hours of howling, spine-tingling winds, only a few buildings and houses remained with roofs. Electric posts were toppled. Trees were uprooted. The sturdy coconut trees looked beaten with leaves dangling from the top.
Of the more than 47,000 population of Guiuan, more than two thousand were injured. A hundred perished.
The PDAF and DAP scandals have a lot to do with the increase in the trust of the people on media, the decline of the same for the government and continued distrust for non-government organizations.
The 2014 Philippine Trust Index conducted by EON showed that media is third most trusted institution with 33 percent, up from 32 per cent last year. First is the Church, which includes not only Catholic Church but also other denominations, with 75 percent, up from last year’s 68 percent.
Academe comes second with 53 percent, up from last year’s 45 percent.
The least trusted institution is the government with 11 percent, down from 15 per cent last year, followed by NGO with 12 percent, the same as last year’s.
Nakakatuwa ang mag-cover kay Flavier dahil sa maliban sa mabait at hindi mayabang, grabe sa galing ng kanyang sense of humor. Tawa kami ng tawa kapag ini-interview namin siya.
Bilang lider ng Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, maraming taon na sa mga baryo niya ginugol ang kanyang panggagamot. Ang kanyang karanasan sa pagta-trabaho sa mga baryo ay mababasa sa kanyang libro, “Doctor to the Barrios.”
Sa aking pag-cover kay Flavier ng siya ay health secretary noong administrasyon ni Pangulong Fidel V. Ramos, marami akong kuwento at insidente na buhay na buhay sa aking ala-ala. Ngunit ang isa sa palagi kong ibinabahagi sa iba ay ang kanyang kuwento ng iba’t-ibang paraan nagpapasalamat ang mga tao sa probinsiya (dinadalhan siya ng maraming gulay, manok, kambing at baboy) nang siya ay guest speaker sa Cosmopolitan Church sa Taft Avenue.