Pasay City – Rowena Duenas, 40, was all smiles as she partakes the two-piece chicken and adobo rice toppings handed to her by a volunteer after disembarking from the C130 at Villamor Airbase.

Rowena, a native of Palo, Leyte, is among the evacuees of Typhoon Yolanda who arrived yesterday from Cebu City.

Rowena arrived together with her husband, six children and her sister.

When asked how she feels now that her family is out of typhoon-ravaged Tacloban, she said, “Gumaan ang pakiramdam ko (I feel relieved).”

“Nu’ng Linggo (November 10), umalis kami sa Palo at naglakad ng halos apat na oras papuntang Tacloban airport upang magbakasakaling makasakay sa C130. Wala kaming dalang mga gamit o damit dahil natangay lahat ng tubig. (We left Palo on Sunday and walked for almost four hours to get to Tacloban airport, hoping to get a flight via C130. We had nothing with us because everything was washed away by the storm),” she recounted.

Rowena said that they were able to board the C130 on Wednesday and without their knowledge the C130 was bound for Cebu City.

They stayed at the Mactan Airbase for two nights until they luckily boarded yesterday’s flight to Manila.

She said they were given relief goods while at the Mactan Airbase. Thus, when they boarded the C130, they carried with them three bags of relief items and their clothes were all new.

After two hours of waiting at the Villamor Airbase, Rowena’s family was fetched by relatives. Five of them will stay with a sister in Taguig while the rest will stay with another sister in Las Piñas.

She plans to stay in Manila for a while, probably about a year, before going back to Tacloban. In the meantime, she thinks of opening a small carinderia to start life anew.

Joint efforts

Various national government agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) have joined efforts to assist evacuees like Rowena.

An Operation Tulong Express tent was set up beside the Villamor Grandstand where the arriving evacuees are assisted.

As soon as evacuees arrive at the airport, personnel of the Philippine Air Force General Hospital, members of the Philippine Air Force Ladies Club, and volunteers from SM Foundation are ready to hand them lunch packs and bottled water.

Evacuees who need immediate medical attention are attended to by volunteer-doctors and nurses.

The Department of Health (DOH) and Handmaids of the Lord, an NGO, are providing stress debriefing.

Smart Communications and Globe Telecoms also are offering free calls.

Temporary Refuge

DSWD has set up a Help Desk manned by social workers from DSWD-National Capital Region (NCR) where they assess the needs of the evacuees and facilitate reunification with their relatives and loved ones.

Social workers would contact their relatives and arrange for transportation that would bring them to their places.

Evacuees who are waiting for relatives to fetch them as well as those who have none will be taken to DSWD centers and institutions such as the Jose Fabella Center (JFC) in Mandaluyong City, Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC) in Quezon City, and Haven for Women in Muntinlupa City. Others will also be accommodated by NGOs.

To date, some 26 families or 135 individuals have been taken for temporary shelter at Jose Fabella Center, while two and five unaccompanied children were brought to Nayon ng Kabataan in Mandaluyong and RSCC, respectively.

At the centers, they will be provided with psychosocial interventions to lessen their trauma and help them regain their normal social functioning. Medical, spiritual and other support services will be given as necessary. ###