‘Wala akong ibang paraan na makontak ang aming pamilya. Sana po matulongan nyo kami,” he pleaded for help.
He forwarded to me the following letter of his brother, Armando, who is based in Texas, U.S.A, addressed to the Philippine Red Cross.
Update: Sheila Pino Ylagan informed me in Facebook that Richard Gappi and family are okay.
A Facebook post said on Nov. 5, he went to Tacloban for the birthday of his son, Intoy. His family in Angono lost communication with him during the typhoon.
Those who have access to him, please let us know. We pray he is safe.
***
When we saw the devastation in Leyte, we felt awkward about being engrossed about the damage wrought by typhoon Yolanda in our place in Guisijan, Laua-an, Antique.
The sight of the dead all over – on the street and underneath fallen structures – was simply heartbreaking.
Heart rending is the report about the missing five children playing by the waterfall, which has also been obliterated by landslides that followed the quake.
There may still be areas, isolated by the destruction of roads and bridges that are still to be reached by rescuers and people who are bringing assistance.
Let’s pray for those who were affected by the earthquake that shook the Visayas and Mindanao yesterday.
Renato Solidum, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said more aftershocks could happen in the coming weeks.
I’m reprinting here guidelines from the “Disaster Preparedness and First Aid” handbook prepared by the Senate Committee on Climate Change chaired by Sen. Loren Legarda. The guidelines were provided by the Phivolcs.