Manila: Heroes rise during times of adversity and this was confirmed when the survivors of typhoon helped each other.
Assisclo Aguilar, bank officer of Central Bank of the Philippines (BSP) in Tacloban, recalls the terrifying afternoon of November 8 when he and his colleague, Kudillan, had to endure Typhoon Haiyan’s to perform their duties.
“We were on duty from 3pm to 11pm. The winds were powerful during that afternoon. We were supposed to give way to another shift when we decided not to come home because the winds were already very strong. Kudillan and I decided to stay,” he narrates to Gulf News.
Aguilar was in charge of security.
Watch raw footage of the destruction in Tacloban:
The BSP building was badly hit by the typhoon.
“We stayed from 7pm to 11am. We did not leave our post,” he said. Guarding the bank’s vault was the only thing on his mind.
“The water had reached so high that eventually it entered the bank vaults,” he said.
The following days were filled with reports of lootings in the city making Aguilar and Kudillan to stay back at the bank away from their families, who were also experiencing difficulties.
Aguilar only left Tacloban on the evening of November 15 when a new batch of security personnel arrived.
Had it not been for Aguilar’s dedication, robbers could have plundered the bank’s security vaults.
In Imelda Village, another hero rose to the occasion.
Danilo Siyo, a helper of Abanilla family in Imelda Village in Tacloban, is a local hero of sorts for providing the villagers with clean water.
Imelda Village, like most areas in Tacloban gets its water supply from the local utility, the Leyte Metropolitan Water District, but when the typhoon struck surge, it affected the province’s distribution network.
Siyo, who had watched Dr Lorenzo Abanilla repair their backyard pump in the past, applied the same technique to restore the device and make it work again, this time for the people of Imelda Village, who for days had no water supply.
“Tikyo was the saviour of our village,” said Dr Auxilladora Reyes-Abanilla.
“Without him, the situation we had encountered would have been more difficult,” she said.
