Sta. Cruz town gets back on its feet after ‘Cosme’

STA. CRUZ, ZAMBALES – Scanning the heaps of debris from what used to be her house until strong winds by tropical storm “Cosme” pounded the town on Saturday, Nimfa Mendoza said in Zambal: “Kailangan lumaban habiay (One must overcome the challenges in life).”

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The will of this 45-year-old mother to start anew from the disaster is unwavering. On Tuesday, she washed a neighbor’s laundry, earning P100 to buy rice and fish for her family.

The family’s clothes, drenched by the rains on Saturday night, have remained unattended.

“We need to earn money for food. I will wash our clothes tonight or tomorrow,” Mendoza said, still wearing the same shirt and shorts she had on when the family evacuated to the Sta. Cruz Church.

They wasted no time to save their lives as the winds howled and battered the town starting 10 p.m. on Saturday, she said. It was calm after six hours.

Refuge

Relief goods have been coming in trickles and waiting would do no good, she said.

She, her husband Hemeniano and their five children have opted to return to Barangay Gama on Monday, seeking refuge in the garage that a neighbor, Mercedes Mary, offered.

Hemeniano and the four sons tried to salvage whatever they could from the two-room house that was already dilapidated before the calamity struck.

Hemeniano fixed the statue of the Virgin Mary in the middle of the debris before he started mounting a panel of wood on what would be a shack in the meantime.

“We need to start with something somehow. God will not abandon us,” Hemeniano said.

Elsewhere, people have started getting back on their feet. Sounds of nails being hammered on roofs or of uprooted trees being chain-sawed filled the air.

Army soldiers, policemen and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority volunteers have cleared the national highway of debris, allowing normal traffic to resume down to the boundary of Pangasinan.

The team has begun entering the town’s interiors to clear debris in the 25 villages, according to Col. Ernesto Benitez, deputy commander of the Army’s 703rd Infantry Brigade.

Zambales Electric Cooperative (Zameco) workers have started replacing fallen posts and repairing cables to restore electricity in Sta. Cruz possibly in two weeks.

Gov. Amor Deloso released P1 million to Zameco for that purpose.

Government agencies and nongovernment organizations have either been distributing food and water or assessing what emergency measures they could extend, said Felicidad Tongson, the town’s social welfare chief.

Some P500,000 worth of relief goods from the calamity funds have been given in Sta. Cruz, Candelaria, Masinloc, Iba and Botolan, according to the provincial disaster coordinating council.

In Barangay Lucapon North, enrollment resumed at the Jesus Magsaysay High School Annex even as the winds blew off the school’s ceiling and roof, and drenched all books and computers.

“Classes will open no matter what happened. Students will troop to school on June 10,” said the principal, Manuela Ecleo.

Mayor Luisito Marty said the rehabilitation of Sta. Cruz would take three to five years because the damage was extensive.

Not much was lost – two killed, one injured, but Cosme left 3,914 families homeless and 7,040 families living in damaged homes, according to the municipal disaster coordinating council.

“About 80 percent of our people are affected,” Marty said.

Sta. Cruz, the province’s second largest mango-producing town after Iba, saw 37,650 of its mango trees uprooted or felled by strong winds.

Damage to crops, fisheries and livestock reached P54.1 million.

At least P66 million was needed to repair 33 damaged school buildings in Sta. Cruz, according to Dr. Perlita Basa, the schools division superintendent.

Cosme also damaged chapels, barangay halls, the public market and the National Food Authority warehouse in the town.

Given this scope, Marty considers the disaster the worst that had hit this northernmost Zambales town after Mt. Pinatubo’s eruptions in 1991.

But he does not feel hopeless. “Places hit by disasters experienced progress later,” he said. By Tonette Orejas - Inquirer Central Luzon Desk


Olongapo City Government led by Mayor James Bong Gordon Jr met with the city's barangay officials and department heads especially the Rescue Team headed by Angie Layug and DSWD led by Gene Eclarino regarding the city's assistance to the people of Zambales. To date, Olongapo has sent 3 water tankers, rescue teams, 500 relief goods, 40 cavans of rice and cash to alleviate human sufferings. Vice Governor Anne Gordon was on-site to personally supervise the relief operations.