Savage Mind, a cultural landmark in Naga City, survived the beatings of typhoon Enteng last September but not the ferocity of storm Kristine.
Kristine had the Bicol region at the palm of her treacherous hands October 21 to 25 and left a landscape of devastation too grim to contemplate.
One of Kristine’s casualties was iconic book shop Savage Mind in the heart of Naga City. It’s owner, writer and filmmaker Kristian Sendon Cordero was in Germany attending the book fair, the Frankfurt Buchmesse.
Cordero posted in Facebook: “The bookshop that we have built for the last six years did not survive Storm Kristine. This was our second flooding incident for the year, with less than two months to recover. Despite our preparations for Storm Kristine, we were just overwhelmed by the 15-feet-high waters that inundated our space.”
The family posted photos of rare books strewn all over the floor with chairs and tables in disarray and a pair of musical keyboards under water. Destroyed were art works, rare books and important archival materials. and artworks. The bookshop owners and patrons said they are going through the lowest point of their lives after the typhoon.
Among others, Savage Mind has titles about Bicol, in the Bikol language and by Bikol writers. It has sections for works of National Artists for Literature as well as Nobel Prize for Literature winners, a section on martial law and a collection of children’s literature.
For now, the regular sessions of poetry readings, workshops, film screening and exhibits in the heart of Bicol will come to an end.
Changed economic profile
Hitting Catanduanes and Albay on its initial foray, the storm dumped inordinate amount of rainfall in Albay, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said this was the highest recorded 24-hour rainfall in the provinces since the 1920s.
The result is severe flooding inundating thousands in Catanduanes, Albay, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte even as isolated cases of landslides were also noted in Masbate towns.
The big flood in Milaor, Camarines Sur. Photo by George Tapan.
As Kristine headed farther north, the Bicol region was transformed into a swirling water world reportedly the worst in many years.
The region’s economic profile will likely change after the killer floods. The government statistic authority reveals the Bicol region has a gross domestic product (GDP) of P701.72 billion as of 2023 with a growth rate; of 4.58 % which ranked the 13th in the Philippines in 2019.
It has a total land area of 17,362 square kilometers representing 5.67% share of the Philippines in terms of land area consisting of four provinces namely Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, and Sorsogon with two island provinces of Catanduanes and Masbate. It has seven cities namely, Legazpi, Naga, Iriga, Tabaco, Ligao, Sorsogon, and Masbate.
It seemed the cities of Naga, Iriga, Legazpi and Ligao bore the brunt of the storm.
Residents were seen in rooftops crying for help and the following day, hungry storm victims were all over the internet.
On a Friday (Oct. 25), many are still trapped in rooftops and awaiting rescue. There are shortage of rubber boats and the highways going to Bicol are blocked by floods in Quezon towns.
Over in Catanduanes where a family perished from landslides, the mechanical response was to declare a state of calamity. The gathering of island figure gatherers noted landslides in Caramoran, Baras and San Miguel towns. Meanwhile, some more than 500 islanders were stranded in Tabaco port in Albay for five days. Some 26,000 abaca, rice and vegetable farmers were affected by the October storm.
The weather disturbance happened just a few days before the observance of the 79th founding anniversary of Catanduanes.
Poem inspired by Leni Robredo in floodwaters
Over in Naga City with calamity clearly staring at the face of Bicolanos, former VP Leni Robredo did the unthinkable: she waded through murky floodwaters along with her volunteers to help distribute relief goods.
As of Oct. 26, 2:05 p.m. her Angat Buhay Foundation has received P21 million cash donations.
Clearly, she still has the trust of Filipinos.
As one looked at her picture wading through the floodwaters, one couldn’t help writing her profile at the moment:
She was up all night
Heeding cries of women and children
Helpless and hungry on the rooftop
Her volunteers
Were sleepless as well
Packaging relief goods
And sending
The first truck of goods
To the flood-ravaged areas
She saw the extent
Of the storm’s wrath
Even as she mobilized
Trucks and volunteers
To heed the cries for help
Of more storm victims
Wailing and texting for help
On top of flood-submerged
Houses
The morning after
I saw a woman on the water
Waist-deep in murky floodwaters
Helping her volunteers
Get to storm victims
Having their first
Taste of clean water and food
After the storm
There is no one
Like her now
The way she responds
To the poor and the hungry
While the bureaucrats
Are busy
Plotting storm paths
She is the lesson
We all need
When we choose
The leaders we deserve
She is the conscience
We all need
In time of deprivation
And dirty politics
She is all we have now
In the midst of darkness
As we watch her again
Wade through the murky rivers
Of our memory
(For organizations and companies interested in helping typhoon victims, please reach out to the following contacts: Raffy Magno, Angat Buhay Executive Director – 0998-5968820; Jaycee Belmonte, Angat Buhay Partnerships and Linkages Manager – 0968-8724610. You can also email: marcbatoy@angatbuhay.ph & partnerships@angatbuhay.ph)
