Disasters – ellen tordesillas

The bridges of Antique and climate change

Published by Ellen on November 1, 2022

While browsing Facebook on Monday, I saw the Paliwan Bridge in Bugasong, Antique had collapsed. Its approaches were washed away so the bridge is now in the middle of a river- a scene that brings back childhood memories of my dangerous and arduous journey through raging rivers during the rainy season.

I called up my niece in Guisijan, a barrio in the town of Laua-an next to Bugasong, just a few kilometers from Paliwan Bridge. Our conversation was brief because electricity had not been restored and her power bank was draining. Nobody could cross the rampaging waters of Paliwan River, she said.

The distance between San Jose de Buenavista, the capital town of Antique – one of the four provinces (Antique, Iloilo, Capiz and Aklan) in Panay island – and Guisijan is about 50 kilometers, crossing at least five rivers. I’m not sure about the exact number of rivers. Some may only be brooks (sapa) but they are all spanned by bridges, some short and others long.

Preparation is best way to cope with earthquakes

Published by Ellen on April 7, 2017

The earthquake that shook Batangas and the other provinces in Central Luzon Tuesday once again reminded the public of the possible movement of the West Valley Fault.

When a 6.7 intensity earthquake jolted Surigao del Norte last February, Director Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology once again asked those living along and in the vicinity of the 100-km-long fault, which runs through different cities and towns of Bulacan, Rizal, Metro Manila, Cavite and Laguna to prepare, not just stocking up on food and buying flashlight batteries but having the buildings they live in inspected, evaluated and retrofitted.

During a conference on Disaster Preparedness in 2014, Mayor Herbert Bautista said there were some families in Quezon City subdivisions who would rather remain in denial about the danger. They did not want to hear about the warning as they were more concerned about the decrease in the value of their property.

The Red Cross 72-hour lifeline kit

Published by Ellen on May 25, 2015

Government agencies and private companies are reactivating their emergency drills with the release by Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of its latest findings about the West Valley Fault.
Phivolcs Director Renato U. Solidum, Jr. warned that based on the movement pattern (every 400 or so years) of the West Valley Fault, the next tremor could happen in not- so- distant future. What happened in Nepal recently gives us an idea of the devastation if an earthquake with more than 7 intensity would occur along the fault that transects Quezon City,Marikina, Pasig,Makati,Taguig,and Muntinlupa.

The best way to lessen the destruction, damages, loss of lives and injuries is to be prepared. The most basic in preparation is to be informed.

Yolanda lessons useful for earthquake preparation

Published by Ellen on May 22, 2015

The pain of a tragedy is assuaged by the lessons learned from it.

That is the case with the disaster that was how the Aquino government handled the damage wrought by super typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) in November 2013.

It was a reference point in several presentations in last Wednesday’s “Earthquake Resilience Conference” organized by the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation, Zuellig Family Foundation, and the Manila Observatory at the Manila Polo Club.

Manicani: A tough little island

Published by Ellen on November 19, 2014

By Ellen T. Tordesillas, VERA Files

Manicani today hardly bears signs of the havoc wrought by supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) a year ago.

Color is back on this 11.7-square-kilometer island of 3,000 people in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, which was a harrowing picture of destruction only 12 months ago after Yolanda ferociously battered it for straight four hours.

Nemesio and Adela Abucejo in their newly-built house.

The roofless or flattened houses, destroyed concrete structures, uprooted trees and toppled posts are almost gone. In their stead are houses painted green, yellow, blue, red and pink, many with vegetable and flower gardens.

The houses were built by the homeowners themselves, courtesy of the cash for work program of the mining company Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC). Berthed on shore near many homes were new fishing boats, which the islanders requested from NAC officials when asked after Yolanda what they wanted aside from a decent shelter.

A 25- to 30-minute boat ride from Guiuan, Manicani during World War II was a United States Navy naval repair facility. It’s primarily a fishing community today.

Manicani in Guiuan, Eastern Samar sets example

Published by Ellen on November 6, 2014

Manicani today. Two of the more than 400 houses built by Nickel Asia Corporation for victims of Yolanda.

GUIUAN, Eastern Samar – It was in this town at the southernmost tip of Samar Island that typhoon Yolanda (international name, Haiyan), packing winds at 380 kilometers per hour, that made its first landfall at wee hours of Nov. 8, one year ago.

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.

New UNICEF Rep is a Balikbayan

Published by Ellen on June 24, 2014

UNICEF PG Rep Lotta Sylwander — UNICEF PH Rep Lotta Sylwander

For Lotta Sylwander, her assignment to the Philippines as UNICEF Representative, is actually a homecoming.
Sylwander, from Sweden, was a backpack tourist way back in the 70’s and 80’s. She met and married (they are now divorced) someone from the Rojas family of Cavite. They have two children.

Sylwander arrived in Manila last April and has since immersed herself in UNICEF’s various projects with major focus on typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)–ravaged areas.

An anthropologist, Sylwander was previously assigned in Vietnam and Zambia.

She is with Bangladeshi Zafrin Chowdhury, chief of Communication and Private Fundraising and Partnership, UNICEF Philippines, who arrived here more than eight months ago, just before the super typhoon struck the Philippines claimed the lives of some 10,000 people, and displaced tens of thousands more.

Guiuan rises with a lot of help from mining firm

Published by Ellen on February 18, 2014

By Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files

Photos by Mario Ignacio IV

Yolanda survivors Lito G. Abucejo, 47, a carpenter and his wife, Rebecca, 44, marked the 100th day after the super typhoon slammed into Manicani Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, in a newly-built house.

The Abucejos have folded their United Nations-donated tent, which was their shelter the past three months, and are now living in a new structure built where their old house once stood.

The Abucejo’s new house is one of the more than 400 being built by Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC), which owns a non-operating nickel mine in Manicani.

Coco lumber felled by Yolanda are being used for the 30-square meter houses, being built on the property of the survivors. They are expected to last four to five years.

A lovely New Year even with Yolanda!

Published by Ellen on January 2, 2014

Yolanda was very much in our mind as we bid goodbye to 2013 and welcomed 2014.

Our place in Guisijan, Laua-an, Antique was one of those hit by Yolanda. Not as bad as Leyte and Samar but there was still a lot of repairing and fixing to do.

My mother's langka tree was no match to Yolanda's fury. — My mother’s langka tree was no match to Yolanda’s fury.

Makahulugang pasko para sa lahat!

Published by Ellen on December 24, 2013

As we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ in the midst of trials and challenges, let’s take the examples shown by these children of supporting each other when they only have themselves to turn to:

Girl baby sitting a baby while in school. Maybe the parents are working and there's no one to take care of the baby. — Girl baby sitting a sibling while in school. Maybe the parents are working and there’s no one to take care of the baby.

I'm not sure of teh nationalities of these children. But their caring fro each other is heart-rending. — I’m not sure of the nationalities of these children. But their caring for each other is touching.

Category: Disasters