A MOTHER’S love defies all odds.
This was proven by Ivy Michelle Actoy, 26, who braved waist-deep floodwaters in Sitio Common Lower, Barangay Bacayan, Cebu City, to save herself and her two young children amid the onslaught of Typhoon Tino.
Actoy said she considers surviving the ordeal as their second life.
She recounted to SunStar Cebu on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, that she was with her two sons, one four months old and the other four years old, when the floodwaters began to rise.
She did not expect the water to seep into her younger sibling's concrete house, where they had sought refuge amid the storm.
As the waters rise, she found themselves trapped.
The survivor shared that in those tense minutes, her mind was racing, unsure if they would make it out alive.
She even left a message for her husband, who works in Saudi Arabia, telling him that she and their children loved him, uncertain if it would be their last words.
Actoy is among the over 400 families taking shelter at Bacayan Elementary School. (DPC)