It was where Magellan first landed when he arrived in the Philippines. He landed on the island of Homonhon on March 16, 1521, and dispatched crew members, who  gathered on the uninhabited island.  Magellan was detected by the boats of Rajah Culambu of Limasawa, who guided him to Cebu — and the rest of that episode is […]

I received an email report today from an international visitor who was in Guiuan during the past week doing advance work for a possible relief project.  As most will recall, Guiuan is the town of 40,000 in Eastern Samar where Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) first made landfall. The town is on a peninsula that separates the […]

Valerie Amos, the UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, indicated on Monday that her office has  “a little bit of worry that in a couple of the smaller islands there may be needs there that we haven’t managed to meet yet.  I’m still hearing worrying reports in the media–indeed I […]

#ReliefPH, which is associated with #MovePH and Rappler.com, is maintaining a very helpful Google Document which you can view here .  The spreadsheet (actually 9 spreadsheets, one each for Leyte, Eastern Samar, Western Samar, Biliran, Cebu, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Palawan) tracks the  status of relief efforts on a Province by Province, Municipality by […]

This very touching and heartfelt video was shown Friday night, December 6, during a thank-you dinner to honor the foreign volunteers who are helping in the Yolanda / Haiyan relief at the Cebu Provincial Capitol Social Hall. It contains some of the most evocative photos I’ve seen — and some wonderful bits and pieces that […]

I’m back out on the ledge again. Somebody talk me down.

Today I read a news report from ABS-CBN in which the Philippine government proudly proclaimed that it will provide temporary bunkhouse shelter for 2,800 families in Yolanda affected areas by Christmas.  Really?  That’s  119 bunkhouses, each with 24 dwellings in the shelter — […]

Typhoon Haiyan’s devastation of the the Eastern Visayas islands of Samar and Leyte has cast a spotlight on an area that played a significant role in World War II when American Naval Forces overwhelmed the Japanese Navy in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and returned General Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines in what would become […]

The Tacloban City Normalization Task Force has listed the following establishments which are now open for business:

A. Grocery Stores/Commodities
1. 1.Kokoy’s Grocerette- Sto. Niño ( 8am-4pm)
2. A1 Milling-Marasbaras
3. New Karry Convenience Store-A. Veteranos cor Sto. Nino
-selling rice and water only; (7am-8pm)
4. Hayward Convenience Store-Paterno […]

Up until now, all the reporting about the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) from Leyte and Samar has been of the “prose” variety. Now comes a poem that is different, and much needed. Kudos to Chiara Zambrano for making this. And thank you. It’s beautiful.

The following description of the situation in Guinob-an, Eastern Samar, is drawn from daily conversations we’ve had with family members there who can now reach us via cell phone.  It describes Guinob-an — but it could just as easily describe any of the more than 10,000 coastal villages throughout the central Visayas who have been […]

It sounds beyond bizarre. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, ABS-CBN News, and other are reporting that today, almost a month after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit, relief workers discovered 120 bodies underneath the San Juanico Bridge that connects Leyte and Samar.

But they won’t add to the death toll, presumably, because they are not identified and […]

I’ve been trying to learn exactly how the fishing boats are built in Samar. So far I’ve learned that you start out with a hull (‘onayan’) and then you put in the vertical ribs (“ligasyon”), then one of two parallel to the water ribs (batayola) …. so then you have a hull and ribs…..then you […]

CEBU CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has launched “Ahon” (Rise), an initiative to distribute at least 10,000 boats to 20,000 municipal fisherfolk in the Visayas and Bicol regions, covering at least a tenth up to a fifth of those affected by super typhoon “Yolanda”.

BFAR 7 Director Asis Perez said […]

Okay, call me crazy but this makes me crazy and it should make you crazy unless I’m misunderstanding it. And let me say at the outset, I’ve got 60 homeless family members in Guinob-an, Lawaan, Eastern Samar so I have a personal interest in this.

The Manila Standard today is carrying a grand announcement by […]

The Diocese of Borongan continues to be a great source of information on the status of Eastern Samar. Here is a report they put out, including a good chart, ehwih provides good insights.

Post by Diocese of Borongan.

from Lawaan.com via Fr. Neil Gavan Tenefrancia

LAWAAN (Latest Assessment as of Nov. 27)
by Diocese of Borongan-Communications Group

-Immediate Needs: Shelter, Food, Mats

-International organzations such as USAID and WFP (World Food Programme) has been partnering with the local parish for relief distribution as the municipal hall could not accommodate the volume of […]

DRRMC Executive Director Eduardo del Rosario: December 1, 2013

-Every household will be given 24 pieces of roofing sheets, one hammer, one wooden saw, one and a half kilo of 3-inch nails, 1.5 killos of umbrella nails which they will using for the reconstructions of partially-damage dwellings.

-Distribution of the materials will commence Sunday in […]

Every once in awhile someone rises up out of nowhere and “says it all”, capturing the moment. The following “Letter from a Survivor”, written by Biboy Alimangohan, is just that and is starting to blow up on Facebook, as it should. The original is in Taglish. I’m posting it first that way, and then below, […]

In the best of “normal” times, remittances from family members abroad forms a major component to the overall Philippine economy, and are a critical economic factor for many lower income families whose overseas members frequently remit a significant portion of their earnings to help the family in the Philippines achieve an improved lifestyle.

Last month, […]

You can read the original version of this report at this link at  ABS-CBN .  I am republishing it and adding the numbers and Twitter accounts that you can call or tweet to inform the DSWD and Malacanang to help make sure this town is not forgotten.

TACLOBAN CITY — The town of Sta. Rita is […]

Today is Thanksgiving in the US, the day we pause and give thanks for the many blessings in our lives.  This year, for those of us with family members in Samar, Leyte, and the other areas devastated by typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), it feels different. Our family has been spared loss of life, and for that […]

The following short BBC report is a great primer on what’s happened to the coconut farmers as a result of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).

These coconut farmers appear to live among the coconuts. More common on Samar is for the plot of land where the coconuts are farmed to be up inland, a lengthy […]

The International Committee For the Red Cross published this video which is as simple as it is effective — one man, Sofrnio Masagca of Salcedo, talking about what the typhoon has done to him and his family.  He’s not a relative of our family in Eastern Samar — but he could be. He like he […]

Record labels Sony, Warner Music and Universal have put together a genre-spanning compilation album called Songs for the Philippines. The album features 39 hit songs, such as Justin Timberlake’s Mirrors, Katy Perry’s Unconditionally and Beyonce’s I Was Here. It also features classic tracks like The Beatles’ Across the Universe, Bob Dylan’s Shelter From the Storm and Madonna’s Like A Prayer. The compilation album is available on iTunes […]

Typhoon Yolanda has caused us to focus of the coastline of Samar, but last night I started thinking about the interior.  I realized that because the population is concentrated along the coast, that’s where much of the focus is — but the interior of the island is fascinating in its own right. First of all, […]

Based on statements made by President Aquino, and reporting from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, it is now absolutely clear that the Philippine government is intentionally under-reporting fatalities from Typhoon Haiyan. The President and NDRRMC openly admit that, for example, only the identified dead, certified by a coroner’s report, are added to the count. When […]

There’s an incredible story making the rounds on Facebook and elsewhere about a Montreal programmer named Houssam Hammoudi who rushed off to the Philippines in the early days after Typhoon Yolanda hit to find his internet girlfriend Grace Acojedo, whom he knew to be in harms way in Ormoc, Leyte. He’s Canadian, she’s Filipino, he’s […]