Hello! Kumusta? (“Como esta?) (How are you?)
It’s been a long time now, since Yolanda made its second coming after 1912, that we haven’t had any contact with each other (QN and its readership from various parts of the world).
Since QN’s comeback may surprise readers/followers, the most appropriate thing to say is “hello”, or “how are you?”. QN says both, to all.
Typhoon Yolanda did its worst. As it submerged Tacloban highly urbanized (after that monster of a typhoon crushed many parts of Eastern Visayas, Philippines, the term took an anachronism: “ruba-nized”!!) city in killer floods caused by three violent tsunami-like storm surge waves (some said the waves rose to as high as 23 feet), Yolanda took away several lives of its own denizens, mostly God-fearing Catholics, including such valuable wealth as the local media outlets, although only temporarily in the case of a very small number of the latter.
For a few days, I was told much, much later, Leyte Samar Daily Express had been placed out of circulation but had then to stand up, although not on a daily basis as its usual frequency, but weekly, to continue fulfilling its commitment in chronicling and interpreting the news and events. LSDE staff writer Joey Gabieta, whom I accidentally met in Tacloban’s downtown center, told me about the resumption of LSDE publication and that the LSDE is holding office just across the street from its editorial location at the Knights of Columbus along Padre Zamora street. Then, Alma Montallana Grafil, wife of LSDE publisher Massey Candido Grafil, told me to resume now writing for the LSDE. I was then outside the LVN internet café where I use to do my computer works (until the shop loses at 10 p.m.) when Alma walked out of the office next door which happens to be the temporary editorial office of LSDE. It was not until minutes earlier that I learned this newspaper is already back to its command right near me. It was when my better half, Cione, who uses to accompany me to the LVN (she never wanted to be left alone at home after Yolanda shattered many parts of our house at Panalaron, on the very site where flood is always highest than any part of downtown Tacloban), walked from my back and came back to tell me she had just been to the LSDE office. She brought me Coke from the LSDE which was already preparing to close the office for its next day’s work.
And here I am. QN is now back on this page.
How glad have I been to personally learn that the humble couple behind the LSDE and its sister newspapers (all published by Massey with Alma’s inspiration and untiring help) are very much alive. Massey and Alma battled the killer waters that swept into their home at PHHC (Housing) and, thanks God!, they were out safe on the rooftop. The couple suffered wounds. In due time, they were in Manila for hospital care. Weeks later, they were back to where Yolanda’s fiery had been, but since Massey’s extreme pains on his wounded leg kept him from leaving home and doing his erstwhile routine social and regular functions, Alma, despite her own painful feelings and chagrin, braved the challenges of managing the newspaper. Thru her sacrifice, thanks, too, to Joey Gabieta’s unwaring efforts, persistence and commitment to the cause of journalism (which in Region VIII was at its height immediately before and after Yolanda 2013!), this newspaper has resuscitated from the deathly mountains of post-Yolanda debris, and now, as always, there’s no stopping it from serving the news reading publics in Tacloban, the whole of Region VIII, the Philippines, and the world. Viva Leyte Samar Daily Express.
Husband and wife Massey and Alma being religious, devout Catholics and believers in the miracles of the Holy Child Jesus, rely prayerfully on Our Merciful Almighty God through His Son Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Because of that, I do believe without doubt that God took care of them during the deadly hours that swept over Tacloban and many other towns in Region VIII. Thanks be to God and Our Lord Jesus Christ for keeping them under Your Care. Your letting them be with us makes us aware that the important role that the spirit of the media plays in the lives of people, especially the young and old Warays, will also be here, like a guiding torch light, in almost the same way that Jesus is, has been and will be forever.
‘Many Happy Returns’ to everyone in and around LSDE!
Designer from Tacloban makes waves in London runway
TACLOBAN CITY – A fashion designer who traces her root in this Yolanda-hit city is making waves at the London fashion scene with the massive typhoon serving as her inspiration.
Tipay Caintic, 25, got to showcase her designs now getting raves at the prestigious London Fashion Week, an experience she finds as “surreal.”
“It’s surreal to be here, being at an exhibit in London Fashion Week. The genuine appreciation and attention the collection has been getting is still is,” Caintic said in an online interview.
The fashion showcase, participated by 120 young designers from 30 countries, ran for 10 days from February 12-22 at 180 The Strand, London.
Caintic, who made her concept just in two weeks, was interviewed by Kellie Morgan and Myleen Klass both of CNN and another one in News Arise of Sky Channel.
The young designer specializes in knitted street wear with pineapple fiber as her main material.
”(But) for my IFS collection, I also used bamboo yarn, rubber silicone, acrylic and molded plastic. This has a personal take on me, my family and even strangers during the typhoon,” Caintic said.
Calling her collection “Hell Knows No Wrath like Yolanda” at the International Fashion Show 2014 of London Fashion Week, Caintic made waves and moved fashion critics with her fresh collection.
“This collection is a reflection of what my hometown Tacloban City experienced during the supertyphoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) last November 8, 2013.
It has six looks and each look is a “stage” that described a certain feeling or theme during and after the typhoon. The devastation wrought by Yolanda is my inspiration here,” Caintic said.
The first stage of the collection is “downpour,” how the surge, the black, dirty water swallowed the city of Tacloban. The “lines are cut” refers where there was no electricity and communication lines for days.
Next line was “no one is watching you” with the staggering magnitude of devastation, it seems no one was in charge. “Blame game” follows, then “picking up the pieces” and “blind hope” the humanitarian organizations and countries giving help to bring hope to all survivors.
She was not in Tacloban when Yolanda pummeled the city as she was in Manila.
It took four days before she was able to contact her family in the city and with the help of their friends, she was able to hire a van to bring her family out of Tacloban.
Caintic, a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication at University of the Philippines-Diliman, pursued her passion in design and enrolled at School of Fashion and the Arts (SoFA) Design Institute in Makati City and eventually became a scholar.
Caintic was part of PEFTA (Preview Magazine’s Emerging Fashion Talent Awards) in 2012. She is grateful that PEFTA and SoFA endorsed her to IFS. This is her first time to be part of the International Fashion Showcase (IFS) in London.
By: VICKY ARNAIZ
Promising young LSA athlete set to be trained in the US
TACLOBAN CITY – Young athlete Karen Janario is to be sent to the United States for further training and make her more competitive.
This was revealed by Leyte provincial administrator Vincent Emnas who said that the training to Janario, a sprinter, was due to her excellent performance during the recently-held Batang Pinoy in Bacolod City.
It would be the Philippine Sports Commission(PSC) that will send the young athlete to the United States for training under the tutelage of famed trainer Ryan Flaherty, who trained the country’s athletes who joined in various international competitions like the Asian and ASEAN Games.
During last year’s Batang Pinoy competition, the 14-year old Janario won five gold medals in the 200 meters;4×400 meter relay;110 meter hurdles;100 meter and 4×100 meter relay.
Janario, who is from Barangay Libertad, Palo, Leyte, is currently enrolled as a second year student at the Leyte Sports Academy, an academic-cum-sports training school founded by former governor and now Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla.
No date has been set for Janario’s US travel and training, said LSA administrator Ruben Tamayo.
“This is a good opportunity for her,” Emnas said.
Although the provincial government has no announcement yet if what assistance they could give her, they are fully supportive to this plan of the PSC, Emnas said.
Her training in the US, the administrator said, could further enhance her capability as an athlete that will not just bring glory to the province but to the entire country as well once she competes in international sports events.
By: ROEL T. AMAZONA
Parents should help kids overcome fears due to Yolanda, Unicef said
TACLOBAN CITY-Children in difficult circumstances need all the attention and understanding.
And this should be more given to children who experienced the wrath of supertyphoon Yolanda.
This was emphasized by Alfred Stual of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) who added that the children should not only get the support from their respective families but even from the government itself.
Stual said that children should be listened to when they try to open up on what they feel and thought about the supertyphoon.
According to the Unicef official, the parents play a big yet sensitive role for their children to overcome their fears related to their experiences of Yolanda.
“Children’s distress and fears should be acknowledged and even if parents are busy providing for their children’s need, they should take time to comfort them and give them affection,” Stual said.
“Children should be reassured that they are safe now; strategies to comfort and calm the children can be used such as hugging them, telling stories, praying with them, and playing simple games,” he added.
He said that if a child is having some difficulties, this manifest in several ways like recurring nightmares, trouble in sleeping, may become withdrawn, fearful or aggressive.
“(He) may also complain that he have pains like stomach aches, headaches, and nausea and fatigue even though it seems like nothing is causing it,” Stual said.
According to Stual, these are all common and temporary reactions to a terrible event they have experienced.
“Parents’ care, patience, understanding and support will make these children recover,” he stressed.
Children should be supported to re-establish daily activities such as going to school, organizing a play, creative and recreation activities, or participating in sports which can help them regain a sense of normalcy, the Unicef official said.
By: LIZBETH ANN ABELLA
P30 million set aside for the repair of the Leyte Provincial Jail, said Emnas
TACLOBAN CITY – Leyte provincial administrator Vincent Emnas announced that a P30 million would be allocated to repair the typhoon-damaged Leyte Provincial Jail, which witnessed two instances of jail breaks recently.
Emnas said that the repair of the provincial government-run prison facility is among the priorities of Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla among the damaged buildings owned by the province due to supertyphoon Yolanda.
The roofs of the buildings of the Leyte Provincial Jail, located in Barangay Kauswagan, Palo, were blown away during the typhoon, to include the facility’s perimeter fence.
During the typhoon, hundreds of the inmates there managed to escape but later were either rearrested or returned. And on January 30, close to 200 prisoners staged a jailbreak citing lack of food as the reason for doing so.
The Leyte Provincial Jail presently counts about 500 inmates.
“This was the mandate from Gov. Petilla after we submitted a report to him on the condition of the facility and on what is the better solution to avoid similar problems in the future if another strong typhoon such as Yolanda will happen again,” Emnas said, referring to the planned repair of the facility.
Meantime, administrator Emnas said that the provincial government has now addressed the problems of the inmates like the scarcity of foods.
“The inmates who went back brought with them their respective families. That was one of the reasons why they experience problem on food supply because the food was only allocated for them and not for their families. But we cannot stop them to give food to their families so the province had sent relief packs to them,” Emnas explained.(ROEL T.AMAZONA)
I remember (the real) EDSA People Power Revolution
The 1986 capitulation national unrest historically remembered as People Power EDSA revolution of August 25 actually sparked with the assassination of Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. in Aug. 21, 1983. From that time on, we saw that the pangs of Martial Law began to lose its chilling effect on people’s behavior. Daily demonstrations became part of the life of the nation. Marcos gave orders to his generals to break up the mass of humanity who voluntarily joined the mass protest against his dictatorial rule. They ranged from 300,000 to 400,000 angry people at EDSA chanting “Tama na! Sobra na! Alis Na!
But Metropolitan Commander Maj. General Prospero Olivas said he could not. Armored vehicles appeared immobilized and could not plough through the crowd, being stopped literally with but their bare palms of people and noticeably nuns of various orders.
-oOo-
At the Office of Media Affairs then, I was the provincial information chief of Maasin, So. Leyte. Like the many who know we were the information (propaganda?) arm of Dictator Marcos government. During that week of Feb. 22-25 I was advised to stay at our regional office in Tacloban city.
All the while, in spite of the news on massive build up of people at EDSA, I had a very strong confidence in the President; they called Dictator Ferdinand Edralin Marcos. I was a loyalist to the core. I never entertained any possibility of his ouster. He was strong, intelligent and visionary.
I believed in his battle cry that this nation can be great again!
-oOo-
The shattering news of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, Fidel Valdez Ramos, PC/INP head and other generals who declared their withdrawal of support to Marcos, came shaking fears in my spines.
From there I began to worry. All my 6 children were still in school. I did not have other income but from my salary in government.
-oOo-
Even when Marcos, his family to include close cronies were finally driven out of the country, we simply reported to office almost doing nothing. At that time OMA/National Media Production Center (NMPC)and all other propaganda outlets during the Marcos era were abolished.
OMA’s function got resurrected with Cory Aquino Proclamation that of creating a new office now, the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in December 24, 1986, 9 months after the restoration of Democracy.
Incumbent employees of OMA had to apply like new recruits seeking government posts. Others resigned or retired. I re-applied! And the rest is history.