In one of carey’s posts, written about the super-typhoon Yolanda which was sooooo devastating and horrifying, she didn’t know then if there would be relief operations initiated by our community. She wrote: “I’ll try to check with our community if there are some relief operations being organized.” She was relieved and so thankful that, after all, our provincial chapter which we call PFCC 26 (PFCC = Provincial Formation Coordinating Council) did have one.
The “worsiest” , if I have to coin my own word, of typhoons, which was named Yolanda, happened on Friday, the eighth of the month (who says it’s Friday the thirteenth that brings accidents, awful better-forgotten events, etc?). By the eleventh or Monday, the PFCC 26 Council, of which I’m a member, had an emergency meeting to take up what the community could do to help the victims of that terrible calamity, tagged by some as the strongest typhoon that has hit the world so far! They came up with a decision to have relief operations to the equally damaged areas, which were less known (unlike Leyte and Samar) but nearer our province, the Northern parts of Roxas, Capiz; Aklan; and Iloilo. A truckload of sacks of rice, boxes of canned goods, noodles, and groceries, was brought by some elders, as the immediate need was for food.
I can just have admiration for our PFCC 26 head as he personally lead the few who accompanied the truck which left our pier at 12:00 midnight of Wednesday, arrived at Dumangas, Iloilo at about 2:00am the next day, and rolled through Panay island in the night! That was bravery in action; even the people who welcomed them were the ones apprehensive for their safety. In Leyte and Samar, desperate victims would ambush trucks they would suspect carrying food for the ravaged areas. They didn’t have the fear as time was also of the essence, and of course, they could have been full of prayers. We can only thank God for His protection of our group! And for our being able to do something, little though it may be compared to the need. At least we have done what we could, given the time constraint and limited resources of the members who could be contacted at that time.