Matnog, Philippines: Cocoy Roa, 46, from Tolosa town, in Leyte, packed 14 of his family members in a small Toyota Avanza van designed to carry only seven. His destination: Manila, a good 15 hours away.
Never mind if his two-month-old car had a broken rear window and scraped rear left door after it was damaged by supertyphoon Haiyan.
Till Wednesday, Roa had been driving through a nightmare. “I don’t know how many of my relatives have died. You can’t recognise bodies as they are bloated.”
The government has reported only about 2,000 confirmed dead, but the actual toll is feared to top 10,000.
For two days the Roas and a convoy of the well-heeled survivors have been driving through felled trees, twisted power cables and electric posts and dead bodies – in Leyte and Samar to reach Allen, a port city which is connected to Matnog via ferry.
No relief
“The natural disaster … has become a man-made disaster. Everyone, including the government, was overwhelmed. Sadly, even after five days relief goods are nowhere – in our town and the neighbouring towns I know,” said the 46-year old government official.
There’s still a long line of vehicles overloaded with people who have fled the typhoon’s aftermath, waiting on Samar side, he said.
His mother Editha, 68, believes their hometown was shielded by a mountain that stands between Guian and Tanauan – two of the worst hit towns.
On their drive from Tolosa, the grandmother said they had been inured to the sight of bloated bodies strewn on both sides of Maharlika Highway. “They’re too many to count,” said Editha.
“We had to slowly inch our way out,” she told XPRESS during their brief stop in Matnog.
They are the few lucky ones.
Other survivors who reached Matnog paint a rather depressing picture.
Don Advincula, 50, said he had to cycle 24 kilometres from Tolosa to get supplies for their families in Leyte for several days as cars were useless due to felled trees and power pylons. He is hoping to rebuild his life with the help of relatives in Manila.
“Anywhere but Leyte,” he said.
He said his wife, Arlene, who is in Melbourne and his two children still don’t know that he is alive. “I’m afraid to go back. You hear choppers overhead, but relief goods are not coming.
“For the survivors, every hour, every minute counts. But even if you have a car or fuel, you can’t go anywhere. Many are just living in hunger, darkness and the cold at night. You can’t buy anything. Before we left, one fuel station was ransacked. One guy died in the chaos.”
Advincula said it would take years to get their lives back to normal.
Bottleneck
President Benigno Aquino III said most of the roads are already passable, but the Roas and Advincula said food, water and medicines are not getting to where they’re most needed.
Local radio reported there’s only one truck to deliver relief goods in 138 Barangays (villages) of Leyte, the province hit hardest by the storm surge.
Many residents have abandoned their island, enduring a two-day wait in Allen, Samar, to cross San Bernadino Straight to safer ground – Matnog, on the souther-most tip of Luzon facing Catbalogan.
Some of those who crossed to the other side said they had to pay 10 times more than the usual fare.
While rationing of fuel and food riots have emerged in several cities, Matnog is where the badly-needed help is getting stuck.
XPRESS saw first-hand the bottleneck – a long line of heavy vehicles waiting for their turn to cross the sea carrying all sorts of goods going. The queue runs for several kilometres.
“I’ve been on the queue since 7am on Tuesday hoping. I still don’t know when I will be able to reach Samar. I can’t just leave my truck here,” said Rommel Rafailis, 46, whose fuel tank carries 30,000 litres.
“Out of the 12 roll-on-roll-off ferries plying the Matnog-Allen route, only eight are now working, as four had been dry docked,” according to Carol Mendi, head of the local port authority in Matnog.
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