MANILA, Philippines – In Malanday Elementary School, children played and waded through water that accumulated in a driveway in front of the gate. It was getting dark, and white lights that could have been taken for moonlight on the ripples of the water, upon a closer look, turned out to be emergency lights.
The children are here too early. It was the evening of Wednesday, July 24, supposedly the middle of the school’s final week of silence, because the opening of the new school year was set for July 29. Instead, they are here to evacuate, together with their parents who are scolding them to stop playing in the floods.
Despite this being an evacuation center, it also was flooded. There was no electricity and the water pressure in the faucets was weak.
The onslaught of the southwest monsoon or habagat, which was enhanced by Typhoon Carina (Gaemi), happened so quickly for residents of Malanday, a village bordering the Marikina River. By the time the sun set at around 6 pm, the river level had gone up to at least 20.6 meters. Marikina was one of various areas in Metro Manila that was seriously flooded Wednesday.
As of 7 am on Thursday, July 25, the Marikina River receded to 15.4 meters.
All of those Rappler spoke to at the Malanday and Sto. Niño evacuation centers on Wednesday said they have been evacuated here before. They had are used to the floods, and were more prepared every time. But it was never any less difficult nor devastating, especially as the swiftness of the rising water level reminded them of previous disasters, Tropical Storm Ondoy in 2009 and Typhoon Ulysses in 2020.
More than 600 families or 5,000 individuals flocked to Malanday Elementary School for shelter, bringing it up to capacity. Meanwhile, more than 360 families or around 2,000 individuals evacuated to Sto. Niño Elementary School.
Malanday resident Edelwina Jesalva sat in a tent with her three sons and husband on Wednesday night at the Malanday school’s covered court. For dinner, they ate rice and fish that they just had enough time to prepare before evacuating their home.
That morning, Jesalva and her husband went to work as fish vendors at their local market. It was raining, but it did not seem bad enough to skip work.
One of their sons called to tell them that the water level at home was rising. Thinking on their feet, Jesalva’s husband rushed home to help carry their belongings up to the second floor, while she stayed to pack their fish in ice.
By the time she got home, her two sons aged 17 and 30 and their father were still securing what they could. She got ahold of her youngest, aged 9, and together waded through the flood.
Jesalva said that her family was used to dealing with storms. Her older sons knew what to do. As soon as they realize it’s been raining for two days straight, they are on alert to evacuate.
“Mabilis din ang tubig [noong Ondoy] kaya lang wala kaming [naisalbang gamit]. Talagang washout. Pero ngayon, washout pa rin, kasi inabot ‘yung second floor namin, ubos din. Kahit inakyat, wala rin, lubog din, ubos,” she said.
(The water was fast just like Ondoy, but back then we couldn’t save any of our things. We were washed out. But even now, it was still a washout because the flood reached our second floor. Even if we moved our things up, it ended up in nothing – flooded, gone.)
When it rains hard, everyone in Malanday is on their feet, said 34-year-old Roselyn Dizon.
Like Jesalva, Dizon was staying in a tent on Wednesday night, and said she was used to evacuating. While she had most of her family with her, she left behind her companion of eight years: her dog Chichi.
“Matagal ko na po kasama ‘yun. Hindi ko na po alam kung nasaan po siya. Kung ligtas po siya… Sa [Typhoon Ulysses], kasama ko ‘yun. Buntis po ako, nag-spotting ako ng dugo, karga-karga ko siya. Pero ngayon hindi na po namin siya nabalikan,” Dizon said, wiping away tears.
(That dog has been with me for so long. I don’t know where he is now, if he is safe… In Typhoon Ulysses, I had him with me. I was pregnant, and spotting, but I carried him with me. But this time around, we weren’t able to come back for him.)
At the time the family was evacuating, Chichi refused to leave the house, in what Dizon thinks was his “trauma” from the last storm.
“Sabi ko, balikan na lang namin. Unahin po muna namin ‘yung mga bata. Kaso hindi na po kami nakabalik. Ang lakas na po at saka ang taas na rin ng tubig,” she said.
(I said we should come back for him, and just get the kids out first. But we weren’t able to return. The water current was too high and too strong.)
While at the evacuation center, Dizon said a neighbor was able to swim to their area and come back. She asked about her house, and the neighbor said it was submerged. She had no clue whether Chichi survived.
“Pagbaba po ng tubig, bababa po kaming mag-asawa kasi titingnan po namin kung ligtas po siya. Kanina pa ako nagdadasal na sana po, nakaakyat po siya sa may pader para makalabas.”
(When the water recedes, my husband and I will go home to see if Chichi is safe. I’ve been praying all day that he was able to climb the wall to escape.)
In neighboring village Sto. Niño, food came in batches to feed the hundreds of families seeking shelter. While local officials’ assistance came in, businesses stepped in as well.
Paul Villareal, founder of restaurant Pares Maldita, was with his team in giving out free beef pares to evacuees on Wednesday afternoon.
Pares Maldita is located in Marikina Heights, where Villareal said they were able to cook and go around as floods did not reach the area.
“Dahil po taga-Marikina kami at ‘yung mga nasalanta ng bagyo ngayon, nag-gi-give back po kami sa community, para tumulong at magkaisa kami,” said Villareal.
(We’re here because we’re from Marikina, and we are giving back to the community and those who were affected by the typhoon. We want to help and act in solidarity.)
Pares Maldita came with around 200 servings of pares that afternoon, and planned to go back, cook more food, and return to the evacuation center for dinner.
It was logistically difficult, and Villareal acknowledged the risk they were taking themselves, but he knew that others in his community had it worse.
“Gusto ko po laging tumulong sa kapwa namin. Masarap po sa puso na nakikita kong tumutulong kami. At kung ano po ‘yung mayroon kami, handa naman po naming ibigay,” he said.
(I want to help our community. It warms my heart to see our team helping out. And whatever we have, we are ready to give.)
Typhoon Carina was crossing Taiwan and nearing the northern boundary of the Philippine Area of Responsibility in the early hours of Thursday. – Rappler.com
