Virac, Catanduanes

Friday, February 2, 2007

The Bicol Regions of Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Albay and Sorsogon were hit with a 1-2-3-4-5 punch of Typhoon Milenyo (Sept 27, 2006), relocation due to Mayon eruption, Typhoon Reming (Nov. 30, 2006), Seniang (December 7-12, 2006), and the Mayon landslide. The needs were great and FTH tried to put together 3 teams and CFO had 2 teams to meet the challenge. This is the 6th leg of a 10-town tour of FtH in the Bicol Region.

Friday, February 2, 2007- Carl and Jeanette with the CFO Team No. 1 of Edwin and Ivy left for Manila and were replaced with CFO Team No. 2 of Evelyn and Hazel for the rest of the Bicol Tour. We left Legaspi City at 5AM for the 7AM ferry from Tabaco to Virac. Pablito and Tessie were joined by Vic O. from Annandale, Virginia and San Jose, Camarines Sur at Tabaco, Albay for the ferry to Virac. Vic is a friend of the Mayor of Virac when the Mayor was staying in Washington DC in the 1960s. We were met in Virac by Mayor Zito Alberto but having not seen each other for more than 40 years, Vic and Zito failed to recognize each other at the pier, both bulging on the sides and thinning on the top. Mayor Zito booked us at the Rakdell Hotel near the pier and we were treated to lunch in his Pili farm just outside the town.

After lunch, we started the relief giving for 300 families in 3 barangays affected by the Typhoons. From Manila, we brought a box of 50 flashlights that do not need any batteries, just hand cranked to charge the power. It was donated by Mr. & Mrs. Harry and Rosa Yu of Manila who was our recent visitor in Leesburg, Virginia last October 2006. It will be given to residents of a distant barangay where you need to cross a snaking river 27 times to reach the place. The Hawaii International Relief Organization (HIRO) donated $10,000 towards 2 classrooms in Bicol which we will locate here in Virac, Catanduanes, most often hit by typhoons. We were treated to diner by Mayor Zito and retired early for the early morning trip back to Albay.

Our tour of duty in Virac, Catanduanes was very short and sweet. We were shown some places where the Mayor thinks a tornado went through; coconut trees with no leaves. We were treated royally by Mayor Zito and his wife, with complimentary stay in the hotel, meals and local transportation. It was time for Vic and Zito to reminisce their glory days in Washington DC in 1960s and it was my second trip to Virac after my first stay in 1962.

NOTES: The preparation done by the CFO staff in coordinating the procurement and packing of the gifts, arrangement for the hotels and transportation for the volunteers, scheduling the gift giving with the local government units (LGU) and non-government officials (NGO) is incredible! And the bits and pieces of the puzzle all fall into its places. There were some delays and breakdowns but all were manageable and we were able to carry out the missions.

It was a fun trip of nine days. After 2 bottles of Robitussin DM, 30 capsules of anti-biotic provided by Nurse Malu in Bulan, a bottle of Listerine to gargle my sore throat, living in a hand carry luggage and a back pack of video camera, flashlight, camera, bottled water and TP; using one shoes and a pair of slippers; sleeping in 6 hotels with somebody snoring like me and me coughing all the time; practicing my ballrooms moves in 2 nights and after one breakfast; having a night swim in a hot spring in Irosin; having my $50 shoes repaired expertly by a child labor for $1 using his agile hands and crude tools; seeing the smiles of about 2,050 recipients having Christmas gifts in January; being able to locate the sites of eight (8) classrooms to be donated through FtH, I will do it again for FEED THE HUNGRY and the poor people of Bicol. If there’s a will, HE will show the way!

Pablito
Sunday, February 25, 2007