The Freudian Slip Of A Bacolodnon

     It is different when one goes on the ground to see the destruction first hand. The images projected on TV cannot totally describe what one would see in the areas severely hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda).     What lacunae words create in the attempt to describe the misery and devastation, still pictures persevere to fill, memories to be frozen in posterity.        Life goes on as this woman deals with usual chores inside her destroyed house Mothers bringing their children to school for the first time since 'Haiyan' wrecked havoc in their town. Get the Share on Facebook widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox ! Not seeing a widget? ( More info )Like it. The old church in Dao was not spared by the wrath of 'Haiyan'.  The altar though is miraculously intact.  People lost not only their homes but the...

The early morning trip to Dao, a landlocked town in Capiz, from Iloilo city was punctuated with scenes of Mother Nature's destructive force. Along the road, we saw fallen electrical posts, trees stripped off their leaves, bamboo grass kissing the earth, bent and overwhelmed by the strongest typhoon to have ever hit land according to some experts. The team of medical staff and volunteers of Zuellig Family Foundation was responding to two of our partner-municipalities in the province of Capiz. Capiz is located in the North of Panay Island, one of the hardest hit areas of the typhoon. Together with doctors and nurses and staff, we were bringing with us relief goods and medicines for a medical mission not just in Dao but also in neighboring Ivisan. Upon reaching Dao, our official photographer (Revoli Cortez) went around to capture the devastation of Supertyphoon Haiyan, also known as Yolanda. He took pictures of damaged houses, wrecked covered courts and washed out schools. ...

   Just like last year, the monsoon rains intensified by the nearby typhoon Maring brought flood to Metro Manila and neighboring provinces. For two days, we could not leave our apartment because of the rising flood waters in our area. Because of the bad weather, we even had to cancel our scheduled leadership retreat and colloquium for our mayors and municipal health officers who were as of this writing are holed up at the Retreat venue in Novaliches. Meanwhile, we are monitoring the latest weather updates and flood reports in the news.    The monsoon surge has brought a significant amount of rainfall in the area. The entire street fronting our apartment all the way to Taft Avenue (in the vicinity of De La Salle University) was flooded with knee-deep to waist-deep waters.    Early this morning, we went out of the apartment's lobby to take some pictures of the scenes in the neighborhood. Bring in the boats Ongoing excavation of Maynilad making th...

Below are Interactive Maps of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, two of the most devastated cities hit by Typhoon Washi or Sendong. Relief Operations are ongoing. The international community has already sent aid. More support is needed. Most of the urgent needs are water and food. Electricity is being restored in some parts but potable water is still scarce and the local water districts are working 24 hours a day to restore water supply. Map of Cagayan de Oro View Larger Map Map of Iligan City View Larger Map Negros Oriental was also hit, particularly towns like Tanjay and Valencia. They too need your help Map of Valencia View Larger Map Death toll has risen beyond 1,000 and authorities are saying the actual number of deaths may never be ascertained. Like it? Share it. Get the Share on Facebook widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox ! Not seeing a widget? ( More info )Like it.

The local news are a buzz today when it was confirmed that the Philippine president was out partying with his security the night after Typhoon Sendong hit and devastated Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and the rest of Mindanao and even Southern Negros. ABS-CBN reports that "President Benigno Aquino III partied with the Presidential Security Group on Sunday night, an action that did not sit well with some users of social media sites". His PR team scrambled to "sanitize" what is seemingly a worse scenario for any public relations officer. Talk about insensitivity. First of all, PNoy was already criticized when he opted to delay his visit to the hard hit areas 2 days after Christmas. When they finally decided to come early (Tuesday Dec. 20, 2011), another headlines grabbed the spotlight when PNoy was again seen partying Sunday night. The first to "announce" the news was showbiz personality Valerie Concepcion when she twitted how the president enjoyed her jokes duri...

Typhoon Sendong might have spared most of the Visayas a few days ago but not Mindanao which is usually not used to being hit by strong typhoons. Typhoon Sendong, perhaps the last typhoon to hit the country this year, has created so much havoc and loss of lives especially in the city of Cagayan de Oro. More than 300 are expected to be dead, most are entire families and villages washed away into the sea. The picture shown here is perhaps the most heart-breaking picture I have ever seen in relation to the latest news about the storm. No one was prepared for this storm which is actually very surprising since the storm was already announced a few hours before it even entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). The original pathway though was forecasted to hit Easter Visayas, then crossing over the central Visayas and supposed to exit West of Palawan. However, when it entered the PAR (last Friday)it suddenly changed course and went straight across northern parts of Mindanao. ND...

Signal No. 3: Quezon Polillo island Bulacan Bataan Rizal Cavite Laguna Batangas Oriental Mindoro Lubang Island Marinduque Camarines Norte Camarines Sur Catanduanes Metro Manila Signal No. 2: Aurora Quirino Nueva Ecija Tarlac Pampanga Zambales Occidental Mindoro Albay Burias Island Signal No. 1: Isabela Ifugao Nueva Vizcaya Benguet La Union Pangasinan Sorsogon Masbate Romblon Calamian Group Northern Samar Northern Panay For latest updates: visit this website .