JOANNA Sustento-Bacsa, 32, has already made peace with Yolanda (Haiyan), the world’s most powerful typhoon to hit land in recorded history on November 8, 2013.
Ten years after losing most of her family members, Susteno-Bacsa said that there is “so much growth” happening to her today as a Yolanda survivor and a full-time mother to her first-born son.
"[My son] is a very symbolic person in our family. His coming into our lives 10 years later really says a lot about how much love grows in me, how much love grows in our family," Sustento-Bacsa said during a "reunion" with fellow survivors aboard the Greenpeace advocacy ship Rainbow Warrior docked in Tacloban port.
“So much has changed, but we are still here doing the work for climate justice,” she added, as she now aligned herself with an advocacy group of “climate warriors.”
In 2017, she became the face of Yolanda survivors in Tacloban City, the super typhoon’s ground zero, when she joined Greenpeace’s expedition in the Arctic to protest oil drilling, which her group blamed for climate impacts.
For Alren Beronio, a young photographer in Borongan City, Eastern Samar, he remembered how he volunteered his skills for the Catholic Church’s diocesan media office.
His documentation of the typhoon devastation eventually led to him landing a job at a local newspaper.
“I ventured into the affected areas of our province, as well as Samar and Leyte, to document the situation through my photos and share it on social media in an effort to seek help,” Beronio said.
After documenting the different stories of losses and survival in the devastated areas, Beronio said he was “fortunate to witness numerous opportunities for assistance, realization about the strength of human spirit, and countless acts of kindness.”
“It was a time when we witnessed both the depths of human suffering and the heights of human compassion,” Beronio said.
In a 2016 report, the United Nations Office for Coordination said that the total aid poured to Yolanda survivors has reached $865,151,866 (P41.8 billion), with the United Kingdom as the top donor.
While Borongan City Bishop Crispin Varquez recalled the “lives lost, the families shattered and the communities uprooted,” he also pointed out the “countless acts of heroism and selflessness that emerged in the midst of the chaos.”
“We acknowledge the pain and grief that still linger in the hearts of those who survived and continue to rebuild their lives. And we recognize the hand of God guiding us through the darkest of moments," the prelate said.
In the town of Palo in Leyte, one of the hard-hit areas during Haiyan, Archbishop John Du of the Palo Archdiocese led the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Hope on November 8.
“Our God has never abandoned us, and he has given us a mother—a mother to whom we could express our grieving, sadness and mourning. She accompanies us in the journey and difficulties of life,” Du said.
During Pope Francis's visit to Tacloban City, the Virgin of Hope of Palo was placed on the open-air altar for the Papal Mass held for the survivors on January 17, 2015.
During the Mass, attended by thousands of survivors in the central Philippines, Pope Francis venerated the Marian statue, while he referred to it as a source of hope.
“We are like a little child in the moments when we have so much pain and no longer understand anything. All we can do is grab hold of her hand firmly and say, ‘Mother,’ like a child does when it is afraid. It is perhaps the only words we can say in difficult times—‘Mother,’” Pope Francis said during his homily at the Tacloban airport.
On Tuesday, November 7, a group of “Climate Walkers” also arrived in Tacloban after a 30-day journey from Manila to Yolanda’s ground zero, for solidarity work for climate justice with the survivors for their 10th commemorative activities.
“Our journey does not end here. Because our real destination is in people’s hearts and minds – for climate hope to take root and yield results. As we mark the 10th year since Typhoon Haiyan devastated the country, let this journey remind us that we are not walking alone,” the Climate Walkers said.
“Our voices, our family, and our hearts are stronger than ever. And this collective voice will resonate with the whole world as we keep standing together to call for climate justice,” they added.
Captain Hettie Geenen of the Rainbow Warrior said their second tour in Tacloban “'left an impressive amount of memories, especially from the stories we heard just by listening to people.”
"[After Yolanda] I had to go out there and learn how Tacloban should recover, not only economically but also how to preserve our resources and how do we now correlate all the other issues affecting our lives," said Tacloban Mayor and Yolanda survivor Alfred Romualdez, who also worked on climate resilience in the city.
“While planetary problems require global solutions, action must start in the community. In a world that forces us to forget and ignore, sharing stories becomes a heroic act,” added climate advocate Jerx Aliposa.
Prayer for resilience, thanksgiving
Yolanda Kids Survivors Inc., a group of young typhoon survivors in Leyte, urged the communities devastated by Yolanda to "light our candles and say our prayers."
"As we commemorate a decade of rebuilding, remembering and honoring the lives forever changed, may we never forget the lessons it taught and most especially, the memories of those we love and cherish who have departed,” said the group.
“May we all remember our courage, hope, and resilience in the face of life's adversities and continue to help build a better and stronger future,” they added.
Humanitarian group Volunteer for the Visayans reminded the survivors to be “forever thankful to everyone who held our hand, helped us and guided us in our time of need.”
“We remember, we learned, we live. More than just a story of an overwhelming event, it became a story of resiliency,” the relief group said.
Meanwhile, Maasin City Mayor Nacional Mercado said the 10-year anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas "is a time to celebrate survivor’s resilience."
"Over the past decade, they’ve shown courage and unity in rebuilding their lives and communities. This event reminds us of the need for disaster preparedness and resilience in the face of climate change. May we continue to rebuild, thrive and inspire others to protect our planet and its vulnerable community,” he added.
Better nation
During his commemorative speech in Tacloban, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. maintained that “putting our experience at the heart of this event reminds us of the calamity that brought unimaginable destruction to the Visayas, to the Philippines.”
“It serves as a poignant reminder of the power of nature and our vulnerability to that power. More importantly, it underscores the importance of disaster risk reduction and management in the Philippines,” Marcos said.
“The Filipino spirit is incredible. It has been demonstrated during and in the aftermath of Yolanda and of coronavirus disease pandemic. Our ability to come together, to support one another, [and] to rebuild during such adversity is always an inspiration,” he added.
He urged the Filipinos to “learn from this experience and make sure that such devastation will be mitigated or somehow prevented because we are now better prepared and we are now better adapted to the vagaries of very severe weather events.”
As this developed, the President said the government “remains committed to advancing our country’s disaster resilience.”
He talked about the development of “cutting-edge technologies for disaster risk prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.”
“I am confident that the technologies featured in this event—such as the mobile command post, the triaging trailer tent, the collapsible toilet bowl, upgraded emergency disinfection system, fire blanket, unsinkable portaboat and water ambulance, amongst others—will be of great help during relief and rescue operations,” he said.
“The emergency food reserve as well as the complementary food and food products are also good additions to our survival kits during calamities,” he added, as he acknowledged that the “collaboration among government agencies, local governments, and the private sector, and communities is the key to effective and successful disaster risk reduction and management.”
“The world is rapidly changing. It is imperative that our ways and our strategies adapt and improve as well. So, my fellow Filipinos, let us remember the lessons of the past, not with despair, but with the determination to learn and to change for the better,” Marcos Jr. said.
As a typhoon-prone nation, an estimated 20 typhoons enter the Philippines area of responsibility every year.
Call for climate justice
In a separate statement, Greenpeace said that fossil fuel companies “must pay their climate debt, give money to climate-impacted communities to compensate for the losses and damages—both economic and non-economic—experienced by people.”
According to Greenpeace, communities in the Philippines that are least responsible for climate change are on the frontlines of the crisis, losing their lives, homes, and livelihoods from floods, storm surges, landslides, destructive winds, and intense rains brought regularly by super typhoons.
Citing a 2023 report, the advocacy group found that the world’s top fossil fuel companies owe a total of USD 99 trillion (P70 billion) in climate loss and damage to compensate communities most affected by the crisis.
Yolanda affected over 14 million Filipinos across 44 provinces, damaging about P95.48 billion of properties and infrastructures, and killing over 8,000 people, mostly in Tacloban.
"Yolanda after 10 years brought back memories, mostly sad, but the victims need to be remembered," said Irish national and relief worker Pascal Canning, who is based in Maasin City.
Canning, who led a housing project for Yolanda survivors in Leyte, added that "some good memories also came back" in this year's commemoration of the storm in 2013.
"The good memories are of helping those who lost everything. The smiles, the relief, the thanks, and the memories of my cousin Declan and brother Gary coming over here from Ireland to help," Pascal told Sunstar Philippines.
"Sadly, Declan has since passed away. That versus the smell [of dead bodies]. The smell I can never forget," added Pascal, as he reflected on the scale of devastation brought by Yolanda. (SunStar Philippines)