Rappler Newscast Special Edition | November 16, 2013

Story 1: TYPHOON YOLANDA (HAIYAN): ONE WEEK AFTER
It is now more than a week since the strongest storm ever to hit land left a trail of destruction along Central Philippines.
Exactly a week ago today, the first C130 plane landed and the world got its first glimpse of what it left behind.
It took more than 5 days for aid to reach outside the airport.
And while the pace of help has increased, some remote villages still do not have help.
Monster waves and powerful winds from Typhoon Yolanda — international name Haiyan — killed thousands and flattened entire towns.
As of Saturday, the official death toll is now at 3,633 people.
At least 1,179 people are still missing.
The United Nations says at least 12.9 million people are affected, with over 1.9 million people displaced.
The typhoon damaged at least P9.46 billion worth of agriculture and infrastructure, forcing many communities to start from scratch.
A week after the disaster, entire provinces and several towns remain off the grid.
The United Nations says the Philippines will need $301 million or P13.1 billion to rehabilitate and recover from the disaster.
So far, 40 foreign governments and 21 international groups promise aid.

Story 2: AID PUSHES THROUGH TO PH TYPHOON SURVIVORS
Food and medical aid finally begin to reach desperate survivors on day 6, but humanitarian groups warn about huge logistical challenges in accessing devastated, remote island communities.
The US, Japan, Australia, and UK send planes to bring aid to far-flung areas.
Helicopters fly off the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to deliver 118 tons of food and water to Tacloban City and other affected areas.
Helicopters airlift nearly 2,900 people to safety.
UN agencies say more than 170,000 people received rice rations or food packets.
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas says the government begins airdropping goods to speed up distribution of aid.
He says 830 food packs were dropped by helicopter to remote villages where transportation is a problem.
Roxas says authorities are working to ease bottlenecks in airports and seaports that slow the delivery of resources.
In many areas, sanitation remains a problem.
In Tacloban, relief officials worry about the lack of proper sanitation in the sports stadium-turned-evacuation center.
Children and the elderly are vulnerable — often not able to get to relief distribution points in the city.
The World Health Organization also expresses concern about the conditions of remote communities on 20 smaller islands.
WHO representative Julie Hall says that because of the Philippines’ geography, the relief drive is –quote–
“essentially like mounting at least seven separate, simultaneous relief efforts.”
Blocked roads and destroyed communication lines hamper the relief effort, and many survivors endured days of little to no food before help finally came.
Families of survivors are frustrated with the slow pace of relief efforts.
They decide to take matters into their own hands.
They board ferries from Cebu island to Ormoc town in Leyte, carrying boxes and sacks filled with rice packets and cup noodles.
In Tacloban, people still fight to get flights out of the destroyed city.
World media criticized the Aquino government for its slow and seemingly disorganized relief operations.
On Thursday, Aquino made the rounds of relief operation hubs and thanked volunteers for their service.
He also urges all Filipinos to volunteer and assist in relief efforts.

Story 3: THE LONG ROAD TO TACLOBAN
A Rappler team is in Tacloban City.
The 24-hour trip took them through provinces heavily devastated by the super typhoon.
Joining us now on the line is Rappler’s Bea Cupin, who is currently in Tacloban City.

More than a week since Yolanda came to Visayas, progress has been slow.
Today, there are improvements. Roads are cleared and bodies collected.
A curfew is in place to establish peace and order.
Fuel supply is still a problem. The problem here now is also lack of communication. The cellphone signals are established but it comes and goes.
First Radio Response came in to fill the communication ago within the city. Tomorrow when President Aquino comes they will also broadcast a message.

Story 4: NEGLECTED BALANGIGA DESPERATE FOR AID
Joining us now on the line is Rappler’s Paterno Esmaquel, who is currently in Tacloban City.

On our way to typhoon-hit Tacloban City, a man approaches our van to tell his people’s story.
He is Viscuso de Lira, mayor of Balangiga City in Eastern Samar.
De Lira says his city is desperate.
A week after Super Typhoon Yolanda struck the country, he says Balangiga remains neglected.
Yolanda killed at least 14 people in Balangiga.
Nearly 13,000 others cry for help.
Balangiga received its first batch of relief goods only last Tuesday.
The city got relief goods only for 560 families.
It’s not enough for even a fifth of the 3,630 affected families.
De Lira blames the national government for the delay in aid.

VISCUSO DE LIRA, BALANGIGA MAYOR: Masakit yung loob ko eh. Kasi saan naman ako pupunta. Kailangan namin ng tulong. Napakahina. Ang bagal eh. Noong, I think that was Wednesday, merong taga-Region V, DSWD, magra-rapid assessment daw sila kung anong epekto ng bagyo. Ilang araw na. Rapid pa ba yun? (I feel bad. Where will I go? We need help. They’re so slow. On Wednesday, I think, there was someone from the DSWD from Region V, saying they will conduct a rapid assessment of the effects of the typhoon. Is that rapid?)

The fuel shortage poses another challenge. De Lira says falls on the national government.

VISCUSO DE LIRA, BALANGIGA MAYOR: Walang supply. Sarado yung mga gasoline station, kaya nagkakagulo. Kaya dapat sana, kung natatakot sila sa looting, magbigay sila ng supply. Bigyan ng security…Kami po, paano kami kukuha ng goods? Meron kaming equipment, meron kaming trucks. Paano po kami makakatakbo kung may emergency? Wala kaming fuel. (There are no supplies. The gasoline stations are closed. There’s chaos. If they’re scared of looting, they should send supplies and give us security. How about us? How will we get goods? We have equipment. We have trucks. But how will we run during an emergency if there’s no fuel.)

Like De Lira, survivors say they need as much help as Tacloban, a city hit by Yolanda that has gotten more attention from media.
The clock is ticking.

Story 4: PRICE FREEZE ON ESSENTIAL MEDICINE ORDERED
Health Secretary Enrique Ona declares a price freeze on 200 essential medicines to try to curb profiteering, hoarding or price-fixing.
Republic Act 7581, the Price Act, gives the Department of Health or DOH the power to order the price freeze.
Drugs for pre-existing conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and asthma are also included in the price freeze.
The list of “Essential medicines” selected by the DOH can be found in the Philippine National Drug Formulary.
All public and private drug retail outlets nationwide, including hospital pharmacies, are covered by the freeze.
Consumers are encouraged to report violations.
With poor sanitation and inadequate water supply, evacuation centers and temporary shelters for victims become a breeding ground for epidemics.
Common among victims are physical trauma, injury, diarrhea, pneumonia, skin diseases, and infections such as leptospirosis.
Ona assures the health and safety of the typhoon victims is a priority of the department.
Volunteer therapists are also counseling dazed survivors who face psychological trauma from the tragedy.

Image from Shutterstock Samples of Medicine

Story 5: AFTER HAIYAN, WHAT’S NEXT FOR EVACUEES?
Cebu, the biggest port in the south and one of the most prosperous in the country, is a crucial cog in the relief efforts for Eastern Visayas– a transhipment point for relief goods and personnel and a haven for victims.
But the influx of evacuees also puts a strain on the resources of the city.
Ayee Macaraig talks to officials and evacuees and she files this video blog.

The world’s biggest cargo planes and best humanitarian teams come and go here at the Mactan Airbase in Cebu, the hub of relief operations in the Visayas. More than a week after typhoon Haiyan, the international community is working with the Philippine government to quicken the pace of aid in key areas like Tacloban and Guiuan and bring much-needed food, water and medical care to the hardest-hit areas.
They’re bringing back with them survivors who seek refuge here in cebu after losing their homes and loved ones in the disaster but the big question now is what life awaits them ahead.

RENE ALMENDRAS, CABINET SECRETARY: They have big reasons to go back home to Tacloban, either they have family or there are roots there. That’s the Filipino in us. The idea is temporarily they’re here and eventually they will go back. With the kind of rebuilding and the activity of rebuilding in he devastated areas concerned, we’re almost sure they’ll go back.

JEFFREY ROBENTA, EVACUEE FROM TACLOBAN: Sa Manila muna then after, pag okay na Tacloban, babalik kami. (I’ll stay in Manila, then after Tacloban is okay, we will return.) [Q: Gusto niyo pang bumalik?] Yes oo kasi yun yung pinaka hometown namin, Tacloban talaga. Nawasak man, babangon din. Babalik pa din kami doon. Doon kami naninirahan doon kami nabubuhay. (Tacloban is our hometown. It may have been destroyed, but it will rise again. We will return. We lived there, we have our living there.)

But not all of Leyte residents want to go home.
For them home means a better life for their children, and that’s not where they came from.

VIOLETA PAGATAN, EVACUEE FROM TANAUAN, LEYTE: Yung bahay namin kahit isang ano wala wala ka na nakikita, puro buhangin bahay namin kaya lumuwas nalang kami, kawawa naman yung mga bata wala naman akong pinili gusto ko lang ligtas mga anak ko sa tubig, mabaho pa sa Tacloban, ang baho, wala pa kami tinitirhan, maganda nang lumikas na kami muna. (Nothing is left of our house, so we chose to leave. I pity my children. I want my children safe from floods. There is still a stench in Tacloban, it was better for us to evacuate for now.)

As the Philippine government continues to strive bringing relief to the 9.8 million people affected, it also has to start helping prepare a fresh start for its people who nearly lost everything. Ayee Macaraig, Rappler, Cebu.

Story 5: OVER 2,600 EVACUEES FLEW TO MANILA – AFP
The exodus out of affected areas increases.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines estimates more than 2,600 evacuees flew to Manila on the military’s C-130 planes.
Natashya Gutierrez reports.

LANCE PINO, TYPHOON SURVIVOR: Hindi namin inexpect na ganyan yung tubig kataas. Kasi hangin lang. Tapos noong ano na, yung bagyo may kasama nang tsunami at ipoipo…Hawak hawak ko nalang anak ko. Sabi ko nga sa ano ko, wala na tayo. Kung ma giba itong isang kwarto, patay kaming lahat dun eh. (We didn’t expect that the water would rise like that. Because it was just strong winds at first. Then later the strong waves came…I just held my child. I told my wife, we’re done. If this one room breaks, we’re all going to die.)

17-year-old Lance Pino makes it out alive.
He arrives in Manila from his broken city, Tacloban.
But his mind is elsewhere.
His wife and his 7-month old son are still in Leyte.
3 days ago, Lance’s father Warren took him and his 3 brothers to the airport to see if they could get on a C130.
Chances were slim, they were able to sneak in Friday night.
Lance had no choice but to leave his wife and son, who were asleep at home.

LANCE PINO, TYPHOON SURVIVOR: Masakit nga po eh. Noong nakasakay na ako ng eroplano, parang, ayaw kong sumakay, gusto ko silang kunin. (It’s painful. When I was finally able to get on the plane, I didn’t want to go. I wanted to get them.)

In Manila, Lance’s mother Kathy welcomes her family.
After 8 sleepless nights, she can finally hold them.
Her husband, who kept his family alive during the past week is dazed.
He won’t talk.
Afraid of breaking down, Kathy won’t face our camera.
She tells Rappler, it was 6 days of torture.
It seemed her family would never get that ride to Manila.
She despaired over the long lines and and the chaos at the Tacloban airport.
Here at Villamor Air Base, it’s the complete opposite.
Soldiers and volunteers are busy caring for survivors dumped by the military planes.
It’s very organized, very sytematic.
There’s free food, water, clothes, shelter, medical help and counseling. There’s also free transportation to wherever they need to go.
For those without family in Manila, the government houses them in evacuation centers.
The planes come from Cebu, Ormoc, Guiuan, but mostly Tacloban.

COL MIGUEL OKOL, PH AIR FORCE SPOKESPERSON: We’re organized exactly because the influx has increased. From the 2 C130s or 3 that were transporting people back starting last week, to more than 7 or 9 working every day.

Still, operations are not perfect.
Imelda Kempis, who lost her home in the typhoon, traveled to Ormoc from Tacloban.
There, her family meant to catch a flight to Cebu where her sister lives.
She ended up in Manila.

IMELDA KEMPIS, TYPHOON SURVIVOR: Noong second night, doon na kami natulog sa airport sa Ormoc. Tapos kaninang alas tres ng umaga, dumating yung C130, papunta na kami doon nakasakay kami. Sabi nila for Cebu. Sumakay naman kami. Pag ano namin dito, nagtatagalog, Maynila naman ito! (On the second night, we slept at the Ormoc airport. Then at 3am this morning, the C130 came. We were able to get on. They said it was for Cebu. So we rode it. When we landed, people spoke in Tagalog. This is Manila!)

Without enough money for a return ticket, Imelda worries about how to get to Cebu, but she is happy to be with her family, and unlike in Tacloban, food here is plenty.

LANCE PINO, TYPHOON SURVIVOR: Yung anak ko wala nang tubig. Sa airport mismo walang pagkain…Pumasok rin ako ng grocery. Kumuha rin ako ng mga pagkain, gatas.

Lance now plans to wait at the air base for his wife and son.
Kathy will be with him, awaiting the arrival of her grandchildren and her eldest child.
For now Kathy’s youngest child, 12-year-old Karl, is content in his mother’s care.
Karl whispers he lost friends and saw corpses on the streets.

NATASHYA GUTIERREZ, REPORTING: Relief. This is the common sentiment of evacuees who after days of waiting, finally arrived in Manila. With no access to basic goods over a week since typhoon Haiyan, survivors are grateful to at least have food, water and shelter. Natashya Gutierrez, Rappler, Manila.

Story 6: SURFING THE WAVES OF HAIYAN TO SURVIVE
Sheena Junia survived the storm by literally riding the waves and paddling her way to safety on her surfboard.
Sheena escaped the rising flood water in her room.  Outside, she could barely see, surrounded by black water.  
After she said she accepted she could die, she became calm and survived, she said, by thinking clearly.

SHEENA JUNIA, TYPHOON YOLANDA SURVIVOR: I was trying to ask them for help tapos yung iba hindi ako pinansin. Yung isang guy, tumingin siya sa akin so slowly, pumunta ako doon. Dahan-dahan akong pumunta sa balcony. Nakaapak pa ako sa board, yung current sobrang lakas, pero di ko pinapakawalan. Either yung board or pupunta ako sa guy na nag-reach out ng hand niya, pinakawalan ko na lang yung board. Tumalon ako, nag-swing forward ako. Nahawakan ko yung kamay nya, medyo nag-slip pa ako, pero nakaakyat ako. (I was trying to ask them for help but they ignored me. Then one guy, he looked at me, so I slowly made my way towards the balcony. I was still on my board, and the current was so strong, but I did not let go of the board. I’d either stay on the board or take the hand of the guy reaching out to me. I chose to let go of the board. Then I jumped, I swung forward. I grabbed his hand, I nearly slipped, but I managed to make it.)

Without food and water, Sheena and her friends said did what they had to do.

SHEENA JUNIA, TYPHOON YOLANDA SURVIVOR: Di kami proud of it, pero nag-loot kami sa mga groceries, sa mga malls, kasi bukas na siya eh. (I’m not proud of it, but we looted groceries and malls. They were open.) [Q: Did you expect help?] I was not expecting it, I was hoping for it. Alam ko naman na may something politics yung national at local namin. (I know politics is involved.)

Story 7: PACQUIAO DEDICATES RIOS FIGHT TO TYPHOON, QUAKE VICTIMS
Filipino boxer and Sarangani Rep Manny Pacquiao dedicates his November 24 match against America’s Brandon Rios to the victims of the typhoon and of the magnitude-7.2 earthquake that hit Visayas last month.
In a statement, the boxer says he feels “very bad” for the thousands killed and displaced by the typhoon.
With one week to go before the match, Pacquiao says he regrets he couldn’t personally visit the victims.
Instead, the Bobslor Pacquiao Foundation sends relief packages to affected areas.

Story 8: #RELIEFPH: VICTIMS OF TYPHOON YOLANDA NEED YOUR HELP
A week since the super typhoon struck, survivors still need your help.
They need more food and supplies like rice, water, canned goods, clothes, toiletries and medicines.
Communities all over the world are also organizing relief drives to help survivors.
Relief efforts are ongoing in places like Singapore, the US, the UK, Spain, and Australia.
Rappler is compiling and updating a list of relief efforts for the typhoon victims.
Take a look at Rappler’s list to see how you can help. Every little action counts.

Story 9: WORLD MEDIA CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF TORONTO MAYOR’S ANTICS
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is now in the spotlight after his controversial antics and activities move from local news to headlines worldwide.
It started when the mayor admitted to once smoking crack cocaine in a –quote– “drunken stupor.”
This was followed by more revelations: drunk driving, and being with a suspected prostitute.
His attempt to dispel the allegations only resulted in an obscene outburst.
And despite a council motion asking him to step aside, Ford refuses to quit.
Toronto city council meetings are now a media frenzy.
Canadian newspapers assign reporters to cover Ford’s downward spiral, while British and US media provide international coverage.

Newscast Production Staff