CATEEL, Davao Oriental - The people of Cateel say they are fighters. They have lost neighbors who died buried in evacuation centers. They have crouched beside toilets listening to a rushing wind at the center of a typhoon called Pablo.

Three weeks after their first storm, a starving Cateel bustles with life.

They say the New Year will be better. They say the town will be better than it ever was.

They have lost cats and children and many decades of work. But they are Cateel and they will stand before any storm.

The church ceiling is gone, but the pews are full. And when the collection plates go around on the eve of 2012, it returns full.

They have one wish. On the eve of 2013, there will be a different Cateel, even if many were stolen by a storm called Pablo.

A resident looks out a makeshift roof built atop his house that was severely damaged by typhoon Bopha, locally known as "Pablo" in the town of Cateel, Davao Oriental December 31, 2012. Thousands of residents dependent on aid and relief to sustain themselves are currently struggling to rebuild their homes and livelihood that were devastated by the typhoon which made landfall last December 4, 2012. Photo by John Javellana.

San Rafael, Cateel, Davao Oriental. 1 Jan 2012. A mother picks up one of her children on New Year's Day in typhoon devastated Cateel in Davao Oriental. Photo by John Javellana.

A view from a resident's house that was severely damaged by typhoon Bopha, locally known as "Pablo" in the town of Cateel, Davao Oriental December 31, 2012. Thousands of residents dependent on aid and relief to sustain themselves are currently struggling to rebuild their homes and livelihood that were devastated by the typhoon which made landfall last December 4, 2012. Photo by John Javellana.

- Rappler.com

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