Ondoy victims to spend Christmas in covered court

By Edson C. Tandoc Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer


MANILA, Philippines -- Neighbors used to share food on a long table set up in the middle of the street as children joined various street games. That was how 32-year-old Jean Borromeo and her neighbors celebrated noche buena in Barangay Bagong Silangan in Quezon City.

Not this year. Not after Typhoon “Ondoy” swept away their houses.

Some 100 families, including Borromeo’s, are still awaiting relocation in a covered court in Bagong Silangan, which served as the evacuation center for families affected by Typhoon Ondoy more than two months ago.

It is likely they would spend Christmas there, according to Borromeo.

“We have no choice but to wait here,” she said.

The covered court is divided into several squares for each family, bounded by boxes and sacks filled with their things, like clothes they got from donors and stuff they managed to save or retrieve.

The families also hung blankets on the iron grills of the covered court, but these were not enough to protect the children from the cold.

Many families who stayed in the covered court have been relocated to Towerville in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. Those remaining are supposedly the last batch to be relocated, but houses in Towerville are not yet ready, according to Borromeo.

She and her husband Ronald, 33, could not leave the covered court, because just like other families, they have to wait there for the relocation.

Borromeo said she would rather be relocated to Bulacan than return to her house, adding that she has been getting nightmares of what happened.

Staying with her son and neighbors on the third floor of a neighbor’s house on that fateful day when Typhoon Ondoy struck, Borromeo said she saw other neighbors, even friends, drown in the flood.

She broke into tears as she said that she and her son were lucky to be alive.

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Let us continuously pray for those who have been victims of typhoon Ondoy (and Pepeng) as well.  Aside from the tangible goods that they need, let's pray for their emotional and most of all spiritual needs.