Bantayan Island, Cebu had long lived in my imagination as a picture-perfect paradise. Picture pristine white-sand beaches, clear blue-green waters, fresh sea air, and a warm, friendly atmosphere.
I watched friends post photos of their vacations there. For years, I dreamed of taking my own spot under the sun. I never imagined, however, that my first visit would happen under completely different circumstances.
Instead of packing a beach bag and planning lazy afternoons by the sea, I arrived with a desire to help.
Just two weeks earlier, Typhoon Yolanda, internationally known as Haiyan, had ripped through the Philippines with devastating force. The storm battered communities from Samar and Leyte in the east to Cebu, Negros, and Panay in the central Philippines, and farther west toward Mindoro and Palawan.
Yolanda destroyed homes, swept away livelihoods, and claimed lives.
As the country struggled to recover, Filipinos and people from around the world searched for ways to help survivors rebuild. I could not simply watch from the sidelines.
From Dream Destination to Volunteer Mission
My education had nurtured my interest in social development, while my work with charitable foundations had exposed me to communities that needed assistance. So, when friends suggested that we fly to a disaster-stricken area, I did not hesitate.
We chose Cebu because flights remained more frequent and available. At that time, Tacloban still could not accommodate independent volunteers.
However, we faced another challenge: work.
We could not stay away for more than a day.
So, we booked round-trip tickets that gave us only 24 hours in Cebu.
A Race Against Time in Bantayan Island, Cebu
Our first task involved finding an organization where we could volunteer, even for such a short time.
Fortunately, I learned that former colleagues from Habitat for Humanity Philippines had already deployed teams to affected communities. I immediately called Dabs Liban, a former colleague, and asked how we could join their efforts.
What followed became one of the longest 24 hours of my life.
We arrived at the airport before dawn. The Habitat team picked us up, and we immediately headed for San Remigio Port in northern Cebu.
The three-hour drive gave me plenty of time to sleep, but sleep never came.
Instead, my mind raced with questions.
What would we see? How badly had Yolanda affected the communities? Could our few hours of volunteer work actually make a difference?
I had no answers yet.
Waiting at San Remigio Port
We reached San Remigio shortly after 8:00 a.m., only to discover that we had missed the ferry to Santa Fe, Bantayan Island.
The next ferry would leave at 9:30.
So, we waited.
The battered port immediately showed us what Yolanda had done. The storm had damaged the roofs, knocked signs out of place, and left the departure area looking as if a giant hand had tossed everything around.
While we waited, I bought food from a local vendor. I needed something to eat, but I also wanted to support the local economy in whatever small way I could.
Then I asked her when she expected electricity to return.
Her answer saddened me.
January.
I fell silent.
I imagined families spending Christmas and New Year’s Eve without electricity while they struggled to rebuild their homes and lives.
Crossing to Bantayan Island
Finally, we boarded the ferry.
As we crossed the waters toward Bantayan Island, the destruction became increasingly visible. Destroyed fish cages floated in the water, while damaged coastlines revealed the force of the storm.
Then, as we approached Santa Fe, I saw something familiar.
The island’s white sand still gleamed against the clear waters.
For a moment, I saw the Bantayan Island I had admired in photographs.
Then I looked beyond the shoreline.
Fallen trees and branches without leaves covered the landscape. Houses stood without roofs or walls. Household belongings lay scattered everywhere.
The beauty remained.
But Yolanda had wounded it.
Into the Heart of Bantayan
Bantayan Island consists of three municipalities: Santa Fe, Madridejos, and Bantayan. Smaller islands and islets also dot the waters around the main island.
After we arrived at Santa Fe, we boarded a jeepney and traveled toward Bantayan town, which locals called Daan Bantayan.
People moved through the streets, vehicles passed by, and businesses continued operating. The community had begun the difficult process of returning to normal.
Yet Yolanda’s destruction remained impossible to ignore.
From Bantayan town, we boarded a small boat, or bangka, and headed toward Botong Island, a tiny islet about 10 minutes away.
There, we would see the disaster from an even more personal perspective.
Bantayan Island’s Botong Community: Starting Again
About 113 families lived on Botong Island.
Before Yolanda arrived, most families evacuated to the gymnasium on Bantayan Island. Only five men decided to stay behind.
Anita Paciño told us about her three-year-old granddaughter, who cried throughout the height of the storm.
The powerful winds shook the gymnasium and threatened its roof. Terrified, the little girl begged her mother and grandmother to take her home because she feared the wind.
But home could not protect them either.
When the families returned to Botong Island, they found that Yolanda had destroyed every house.
Only cracked concrete floors remained.
Rebuilding a Home from Scraps
Victor Giducos faced the enormous task of rebuilding his home.
He gathered GI sheets and pieces of wood scattered around the island. He hoped to use them to construct a shelter for his family, but the materials could not provide enough protection.
For three nights, Victor and his family endured intermittent rain. They barely slept and struggled to find safe drinking water.
They survived on coconut water.
Then help arrived.
Bantayan Island Families Receive Emergency Shelter
A few days after Yolanda subsided, the Habitat for Humanity Philippines team reached Botong Island. With support from UK Aid and Habitat for Humanity Great Britain, the organization distributed emergency shelter kits to affected families.
The residents immediately put the materials to work.
They transformed the kits into roofs and walls for their makeshift homes. For Victor, the shelter offered something he had desperately missed since the storm: a good night’s sleep.
The new roof protected his family from the night’s mist and the day’s intense heat.
His neighbor, Felix Nipangge, also welcomed his shelter kit. With a roof over his head, he could work indoors to cultivate the seaweed his family had salvaged after the storm.
Felix hoped to harvest the seaweed within a month and earn some money for his family.
But for now, he faced a more immediate concern.
He needed to find food.
Rebuilding More Than Homes
The people of Botong Island needed more than shelter.
Most families depended on fishing for their livelihood. Unfortunately, Yolanda destroyed their boats, leaving many without the means to earn money.
The storm had taken their homes.
It had taken their boats.
It had taken their livelihoods.
For the moment, many families had no choice but to travel to Bantayan Island and line up for relief goods so they could feed their families each day.
The emergency shelter kits gave them temporary protection. However, they still needed boats, fishing equipment, and other livelihood support to regain their independence.
That realization stayed with me.
Disaster recovery does not end when people put a roof over their heads. It begins there.
Hope Shines Across Bantayan Island
As we headed back to Santa Fe to catch the barge, rain began to fall.
I looked back toward Botong Island and felt grateful that the families now had emergency shelter kits.
But another thought immediately entered my mind.
What about the families living on the other islands and remote communities around Bantayan?
The Habitat team told us they planned to return. They would distribute more shelter repair kits and solar light bulbs to communities that still needed assistance.
That promise stayed with me as we drove back toward Cebu City.
By then, darkness had swallowed the highway.
As I stared into the pitch-black night, I thought about the communities in San Remigio, Santa Fe, Madridejos, Bantayan, and the tiny islets scattered around them.
They needed roofs.
They needed boats.
They needed food.
They needed livelihood opportunities.
Most of all, they needed hope.
The solar lights would brighten their homes when darkness fell. But the people themselves carried another kind of light—the determination to rebuild, recover, and begin again.
Yolanda may have devastated Bantayan Island, but it could not destroy the spirit of its people.
And as I left the island, I carried one thought with me:
May hope continue to shine in their hearts.
Related stories:
Homeless at Bantayan Island in Yolanda’s Aftermath – GMA News Online
Bantayan victims receive emergency shelter kits – CNN iReport
Leave a Reply