- Title: PHILIPPINES: Filipino islanders struggle after typhoon
- Date: 14th November 2013
- Summary: BANTAYAN ISLAND, PHILIPPINES (NOVEMBER 14, 2013) (REUTERS) BOAT ON SHORE, BEACH VARIOUS OF DAMAGED CONCRETE HOUSE AMONGST PALM TREES COLLAPSED HOUSE BELONGING TO OFIASA FAMILY, FAMILY STANDING AND SEATED MOTHER MARLITA OFIASA LOOKING ON VARIOUS OF FISHERMAN FATHER ARSOLIN OFIASA PULLING NAILS OUT OF PIECE OF WOOD COUPLE STOOPING UNDER DOOR INTO COLLAPSED HOUSE COUPLE STANDING IN ROOM PHOTOGRAPHS ON WALL (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) FISHERMAN FATHER ARSOLIN OFIASA SAYING: "All I want is to be able to rebuild a house and live decently, and I hope for mercy for my children. We hope that we can repair the house, but it is very difficult to rebuild it completely. It's totally destroyed, how can we rebuild it?" FAMILY SEATED UNDER SMALL SHELTER MARLITA OFIASA LOOKING ON FAMILY SEATED CUP OF WATER IN MARLITA OFIASA'S HAND ARSOLIN OFIASA WITH CHILD (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) MOTHER MARLITA OFIASA SAYING: "What we're eating now is the only aid we have received. But it's not even enough for one day. It's really not enough" VARIOUS OF VILLAGERS AROUND DAMAGED HOUSES MAN FORAGING POSSESSIONS FROM HIS COLLAPSED HOUSE MAN PILING POSSESSIONS ON GROUND MAN CARRYING POSSESSIONS OUT OF DEBRIS MAN PLACING POSSESSIONS IN PILE DAMAGED CORRUGATED IRON ON TOP OF BUILDING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PACKAGING FOOD AND WATER AID MEETING IN PROGRESS MAYOR OF SANTA FE MUNICIPALITY, JOSE TITING ESGANA, SEATED MAN'S HAND GESTURING ON BOARD (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAYOR OF SANTA FE MUNICIPALITY, JOSE TITING ESGANA, SAYING: "We need more support, we need more relief goods to come in, because we cannot determine how long can we sustain this food distribution" VARIOUS OF COASTLINE
- Embargoed: 29th November 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Philippines
- Country: Philippines
- Topics: Disasters
- Reuters ID: LVA8BTV4KY7JOBN8ZAHSMGMAQFUE
- Story Text: Residents on the small coral island of Bantayan are in need of food, water and aid on Thursday (November 14) nearly a week after the worst storm in recorded history tore through the central Philippines, killing thousands.
Just inside the forest of damaged palm trees, Arsolin Ofiasa and his family are barely living off one government relief package five days after Typhoon Haiyan knocked over their home.
The shack of wood and palm fronds stayed partly-upright thanks to a sturdy cabinet in the centre of the main room.
Thirty-eight-year-old Ofiasa, a fisherman, salvaged nails from wood on Thursday (November 14) as he considered whether the structure can even be rebuilt.
If it isn't, then he, his wife and seven children may leave and try to rebuild their lives elsewhere.
"All I want is to be able to rebuild a house and live decently, and I hope for mercy for my children. We hope that we can repair the house, but it is very difficult to rebuild it completely. It's totally destroyed, how can we rebuild it?" he wondered.
His 39-year-old wife Marlita, eight months pregnant, said she had barely eaten since the typhoon so that her children could have more.
So far they have received only five kilograms of rice and five packs of dried noodles.
"What we're eating now is the only aid we have received. But it's not even enough for one day. It's really not enough," she said.
More food aid is now trickling to local people, but so far no shelter or reconstruction material has arrived for more than 6,400 displaced local families.
Mayor of Santa Fe municipality, Jose Titing Esgana, said that with other islands to support, more was needed.
"We need more support, we need more relief goods to come in, because we cannot determine how long can we sustain this food distribution," he said.
Titing Esgana estimates that 95 percent of the buildings in Santa Fe have been seriously damaged and that there has been 1.2 billion pesos ($27.5 million) in damage to the local economy.
With most government and international aid heading for worse-hit areas like Tacloban, places like these are not the priority for a country already overwhelmed by the disaster. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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