Remembering Bagyo Frank

REMEMBERING BAGYO FRANK  

by: Deo Antonio D. Llamas

As they say " Be careful of what you ask for, for you might get it ".A few weeks before this eventual life changing experience. I asked  God for 2 specific prayer request ,funny but true...I asked God for new wardrobes and make me slim in a natural way...again  very vain but true ha ha ha.

Come June 21 ,2008 it was a sunny Saturday but previous days it did rain heavily.Everybody was in the house my wife Tata, 4 kids Michael, David,John and Gracie, mama, my paralyze brother Hugo, our house help Winnie and her son Biboy and daughter Neneng who used to be staying at home.Everybody was in a good mood and we where playing scrabbles then .By 9:30 am a friend of ours John Villamor from Pavia called my wife and said that the rivers in Pavia have over flowed and that their area is flooded already.To our shock we went immediately outside the house if there is water already in the road...because our area is usually  low lying we are the first one to get this flood,and dry as it was we went back inside the house.2 hours more have passed we had our lunch and resume our game of scrabbles, exactly by 12:30 noon a rumbling sound and a siren was heard and as we check the road again there the rushing water was flowing slowly .

Being use to  flooding in the area we calmly did the routine secure the albums and valuable things in higher ground.But this was not the usual flooding we experience before.In a matter of 5 minutes the water level was above the kneehigh.I saw my paralyze brother's bed soaked already with water and that was the time we decided to leave the house  and went to higher safer ground.I carried my brother and my wife carried our daughter and my sons assisted their lola. We brought a few clothes and ask our neighbor the Baylon Family if we could seek refuge in their house for it was a 2 storey house and was just recently finished ours was just a bungalow...when we crossed the road to our neighbor  the water was already chest high.

As we are settling in the house  we noticed our other neighbors  the Romeros where still trying to secure their things in their house good thing their house was elevated higher than ours even though its also a bungalow while most of our neighbor have  second floors,then suddenly we heared a loud  crashing sound...the back fence walls of the Romeros collapsed by the strong current causing a sudden rush  of water and we  shouted that they leave their house and come over to the Baylons house  for it was no longer safe because of the continous rising level and  current rushing  through their house .It was then they heeded after they have secured their multicab in which  they used in their drinking water business.

The water was already in  dangerous level  when they decided, crossing the road has reach head level.Good thing they have a plant box outside their house where they could stand on inspite of it their house help was already struggling because she was a small woman and she was clinging already at the steel fence.Timely a cousin of my wife Kenjie Whitefield from Roxas  was just here for a week training was staying in the house of my wife sister Babes Rivera  in phase 1 wich was not affected by the flood because the irrigation canal which was elevated levied the water.Kenjie  came to to help us for he was a trained swimmer.So we asked him to bring the rope to the Romeros for them to be able to cross the road  to the Baylon residence and requested him to secure three gallons of drinking water which was tied up in the Porch of the Romeros, this provision sustained us for the night ahead.Kenjie was heaven sent .

After the Romeros have settled down we heard screaming  a lady in a plastick rack or paleta which she use as a raft ... it  was mrs. Robles the wife of my friend Ernie Robles Jr.She was crying for help ,her 4 year old daughter Krystal and In-laws Mr.and Mrs  Robles was stranded in their house just two houses away from ours and was just a one floor house as well Mr. Robles Sr. is half paralyzed. Me ,Kenjie and Noel Romero decide to do  rescue attempt..While Kenjie lead the way he swammed  against the rushing current towards the Robles house bringing the rope with him. While me and  Noel was just clinging to the cyclone walls towards the Robles  for both us  we're no swimmers.the road turned into a river.

Kenjie was first to reach the Robles timely their house was elevated like that of the  Romeros and due to previous floods they have it done so....but never had we anticipated this kind of deluge. We reach them standing on the veranda of their  cement  porch 4 of them .the couple, the kid and the yaya standing  on the top of the porch, they felt relieve when they saw us  We did the same as with the Romeros we secured the rope first at the Robles residence Kenjie swam towards the Daria house for it was a two storey house as well and secured the other end of the rope we had Krystal and her yaya cross first and the couple followed hanging on the rope to safety.Kenjie carried on his back Mr. Robles while me and Noel was just behind to support them.

In my curiousity I attempted to reach the bottom of the road while holding on to the line. I got scared for I never reach the bottom and I swallowed a large amount of flood water.I thought I will get drowned plus the current was very strong.The water was muddy brown with debris all over.It was unsafe not only of the current,the mud but the sickness and diseases it may bring.  After we reach back to Ma'am Nelly Baylon's House I was already vomitting .I was chilling due to prolong stay in the water so was NoelThe wind was strong and cold as well.We were quite happy that we had help the Robles Family...Just as we have dried ourselves...we heard another cry for help... a couple asking if they could come in the Baylon house...It was Dennis and his wife.

The couple was clinging to the fences as what we did when me and Noel went to the Robles House...they came from  another street a little further from the Robles to our surprise the wife was pregnant at 8 months and ...as they have settled they share their account earlier..their 4 children was stranded in their house in Daisy street with their Lola.they live  just beside my bestfriend house, Paul Ofrasio...who later i have learned had the same predicament with his mom and only son Pongponng and their elderly aunt who was left in the nipa hut behind the main house.Paul said he had to swim towards her aunt and tied her in the post of the nipa house to secure her from the strong current .Behind their house  is a wide open field that when it floods its like a rapid of a river where you can do kayaking or river surfing ha ha ha.Paul secured his mom and son by securing dinning table and put chairs for them to stand on to.

 The couple narrated that early in the morning they went to Saint Pauls Hospital  for their monthly Pre-natal check up as they went back Jaro plaza was flooded and  the national road going to our village is unpassable already so they opted to go thru the coastal road thru Balabago road to Alta Tierra Village our Subdivision they succedeed to pass by phase 1 but our village plaza was flooded already so they left their  owner jeep and attempted to swim towards their home.As they reach the crossing in the 3rd Main Avenue which was just a matter of 200 meters from their home. The current was to strong that the couple decided to return back to the village plaza clinging to the fences of the houses .They where too exhausted  that as they pass by the Baylon's house they decided to take refuge there.

I tried calling Pauls number to check his situation and as well to inquire on the status of the couples kids..but his number can not be reach.We try the Gibs family same thing can not be contacted.But as we learned after this onslaught all their kids and their lola was safe and away from harm.They manage to break out to the ceiling and stayed in their roof the whole night starving, wet  in the cold of the night but was happy to escape the  present danger.Many where in the same  situation even the Mansions in Ledesco Village was not spared many of the homeowners  stayed in their roof tops for safety as well as the  family and the first lady of then Mayor Jerry Trenas who is now Congressman of Iloilo City shared the same fate as I have learned later.No one was spared the rich and the poor all where equal in Franks way. 

By 4 pm the rain started to pour again aggrevating the situation .At the back of Baylon's house a family was at the top of their roof house there was six of them  soaked in the rain.The water level kept on going higher.We havent notice them earlier  because we where busy .So we prodded them to come over the Baylon's house for shelter .Everyone of them where soaked wet they where there standing for 2 hours or so  in their roof. They where very grateful for that gesture from ma'am Nelly Baylon. For their neighbors the house just beside them  which has a second floor as well never offered a gestureof help  and they where just looking at them  soaking in the rain.Calamity such as this brngs out the best and worst in people,

Dinner time came it was surprise when Ma'am Nelly prepared a sumptous meal for all of us 23 house guest  or I may say refugee ha ha ha plus  6 of them in the Baylon's household. We all where treated with imported can foods,junk foods, drinks, nuts , chocolates,Juice drinks  and regular meals cooked .  Ma'am Nelly just arrive from the States days before the typhoon happened  plus the 3 gallons of drinking water where rationed for all of us .Gods Provision and protection was there from the Start. The House it self was just finished a few weeks and 5 families where saved by it.We had a good meal but many where hungry outside there roof waiting for rescuers or food  for the evening.That night we prayed  for safety of our love ones and friends and relatives and that the water would subside soon and we thank God for his protection and provision,we had bible reading then led by Ma'am Nelly and it was really a time of reflection for all of us. I would imagine what it was like in Noah's Time in the Ark.

 26  of us manage to fit ourselves in the second floor with two rooms and a living area ma'am Nelly and nephews(3) stayed in masters bedroom , me and my family, mama and my brother and our house help and kids in the other room(11), the Romeros(4), the couple(2) and the other family (6) shared the living room.While Jessie Deles  and his family (3) the Brother of ma'am Nelly stays at their house at back which was a second floor house as well .The night was pitch black...due to power outage and sky was clear and it was only the stars that illumined the night and  we have some few candles at hand.I was not able to sleep I just watch at the veranda  waiting for the water to subside the whole night...Till the break of dawn.

 Sunday 5:30 in the morning came and the water has subsided already  but  it  left tons of mud, and debris all over the road and the havoc it cause was cars covered with mud inside  and out others one car is at the top of another car ,fences collapse and damage, G.I. sheets and ply woods were scattered around ,trees and trush,softdrink cases ,plastic was all over the road.Cleaning this all up was damaging to the finances and lives of families affected by it.The hassle in going to work because the roads are unpassable and  time for cleaning the area would demand manual labor. The mud was a foot high thick and very  sticky and sleepery.People began to come out and assess the damages in the sorroundings.

In my case I went down and assess the damage at home.When I opened the gate I saw all the furnitures and equipment where in disarray push back in one corner of the house except for our solid wood cabinet or  " platera" which was unmoved its glass doors was still intact but mud was in side it all over.Our sliding glass door  was laying flat on the floor , good thing it was not broken and it was repairable.One t.v. was secured  the 2 was in the mud.The mud inside the house was much thicker than in the road especially in the bedrooms. The cabinets in the  rooms where all smash down in the mud, clothes where just scatterd everywhere.I check the water line mark in the house it was in my eye level  outside the road  a little about a foot over my head.

I check our fence at the back and I was thinking it might have shared the same fate as with wall of the Romeros.To my delight it was still Slanting tall .For it had been slanting for years due to previous flooding as well.It was spared again ha ha ha long live my wall. So as  I went back to the living room in which we call the gym until now, for it used to be a fitness gym. Went to see my documents and property listings  I  have accumulated in my 8 years in real estate service.... to my dismay all where soaked up and funny thing the water level is just the same height of my (2) 4 compartment steel cabinet...And my  (1) 2 compartment steel cabinet and my 8 compartment wooden cabinet where all filled with mud and I have a shelves for my book collection was not spared as well. This Actually made me feel sad  8 years of my work  and book  collection gone in just a day.

So as I try to look for things I could salavage I noticed a heart shape plastic container floating in pool of water as I got it...there I saw  was my passport dry and in tact. But I dont recall putting it there .For me it was quite a miracle...You see early saturday morning my wife where  arranging all our documents for our application for passports and other requirements for our  plan as family immigrants in Canada .We had place it all in a folder after which we did the Scramble game  as I mentioned earlier. My passport reminded me of my many attempts to apply for work abroad but usually something would  happen that it never push through.I  guess God has other plans for me and my family... or the time is not yet right or this could be a sign from above.

There was the twin tower of September 11 2001.Me and my wife where applying that time. The son and daughter in law  of ma'am Nelly was  2nd batch and they where able to go to the States.Me and my wife  was slated with the 3rd batch...then the terrorist attack happened .All applications where stop.Another one was when I applied for Dubai. My best friend Paul Ofrasio was Sales Manager for Kodak in Dubai. Itwas supposed to be direct hiring. I had the my documents and  requirements  ready and it has seal of approval from the embassy of U.A.E already. But Paul  lost my Documents during his travel.And another one attempt was in Taiwan me and my cousin applied we where with the 3rd batch as well .2nd batch have left already...when it was our turn...the agency was barrage with law suit when one of the employee run with the  the applicants processing  and  placement fees everything was on hold and the agency close after that.

We also tried  in Ireland me and my wife we've been back and forth to Manila to lodge our papers when there was a terrorist scare to Bomb the airport in U.k.that everything was hold again goodthing we where able to get our placement back.And this again bagyo Frank washed away our documents except for my  passport ...this gave me hope in a way.Life may not lead us always in the place we want to go. But life can be kind enough to sustain us where we are and where we can grow, learn and know.And life may bring us storms and other calamity remember God is there to keep us whole.  As the sun will surely shine after every storm.I know we will recover  after all this devastation.Bangon Iloilo Sarangan ta ini... as former mayor Jerry trenas would encourage the Ilonggos to rise up we are strong enough make it.

A wise saying states " for every calamity there is an opportunity".In every opportunity watchout for the calamity ha ha ha.We have to look at it that way,the balance of life is here to stay.Funny things happened inspite of this tragic events.One account I could share with you after I check the house many of us decided to check our neighborhood and how did they cope this...but surprisingly everyone was in good spirit...thankful  for no one was harm in our community particularly in our street...as we walk along the road our dog was able to sniff a thousand bill in the mud and it was half thorn  and I suggested we look for the half of it... and in the process I was able to find  another thousand bill as Winnie our house help found one as well.we contined looking for the other half of the thorn bill and we where extremely exhilerated when Biboy, Wennie's son found exactly the half  of the thorn  thousand bill.All in all we found 3 thousand. The 1 thousand I found was used to buy a new gas stove for the one we used where no longer useable due to mud.

All you see is mud, mud, and more mud... probaly it took us a month and a half to clear the house and the road of mud.That was the time I  was mad with mud.Hiring 6 people daily (2) washers and (4) guys clearing the mud. We where spending  P 900.00 (daily)But I believe Angels exist. A benovolent businessman came to help us in the name of Mr. Felix Tiu.He owns the Centennial Resort and townhomes which is located also in our area.He is a friend of  our neighbor  Mr. Celso Loriega Sr., The Regional Enviromental  Director  of DENR Reg.VI.Felix Tiu is  my friend  too and my distributor during my Sara Lee days.He offered his heavy equipment to clear the road of the mud and debris started with our street 2nd main avenue  followed 3rd main and the 4th main avenue, the  entrance road of Alta Tierra,To make the road passable to vehicles this was Monday when they started  their work. After A  few more days the  MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) cleared the drainage of mud and debris to allow water to flow.Intermittently it still rains during the following days.Thanks to Felix Tiu and  Bayani Fernando...Bayani silang  dalawang tunay.Bayani means Hero.

By Tuesday I felt something unusual I felt my jaws where locking. We had to go Saviour Hospital to have it check .There they had me injected for anti tetanus  And had  my general work up.Only to find my B/P  was flying colors and so was my blood sugar they prescribed maintenance meds and had to be back for regular check up.We paid P1,300  toSavior Hospital come to think I found p1,000 in the mud  and paid P1,300 for my anti tetanus injection...ha ha ha I was negative  by P300.As we came back home we passed by my brother Hugo at the Baylon residence for they where still staying their why we manage to clean the gym area for our temporary sleeping area.

Late in the  evening Peter Trompeta and other  friends from Lingkod ng Panginoon manage to come  to our place and they bought us clothes and relief goods of food and water we where so  grateful for that help and gestures, They wanted to visit Hugo at the Baylon's house  but it was 11 pm  late and they would just schedule some other day to minister to him.Hugo was one of the pioneering founder of the Lingkod ng Panginoon Iloilo Chapter and  our younger brother Leonides or Jun Jun as we fondly call him who is nurse in the states was an active member too  when he was still here in Iloilo.

Hugo started  having high fever early in the afternoon of Tuesday.  We give him  regular sponge bath for he was sweating hard and anti pyretic medicine and monitored his temperature. But the whole night the fever  never subsided.That by morning of wednesday he whispered to our house help Winnie that he will die and that it his time to die.Mama was in the house  cooking when he  whispered this,  that  Winnie cried and went for us in our house .So I run to check on my brother Hugo and he gestured to me to come closer  for  his voice was very weak  already. The same words he whispered  that he will die that it is his time to die. I hug him and prayed with him the sinners prayer and I had Mama called and we decided to bring him to Saviour hospital.Funny thing the attending physician used to be my brothers  love interest who is married to a doctor as well.He was shivering and was delirius in the emergency room .We waited for room vacancy and there was none as of this time because of too much dengue patients that was recently admitted so they had him transfer in the sky ward a new section of the hospital in the roof top.

After an hour the specialist and his wife arrived reading Hugo's chart he explained his diagnosis based on the laboratory test that typhoid fever is what causing the high fever and delirium is the manifestation, a few more minute my brother started to convulse  and the specialist injected him medicine for his system to relax.After which he's convulsion ceased .About 10 minutes passed  the heart monitoring machine started to slow down and eventually went to a flat line...the specialist instructed for CPR . As I was holding Mama's hand  I whispered it his time ...but it seems she did not hear what I said for she was in a shock...Then I saw my brother had a long deep breath and I know deep in my heart that was his last. As  a registered nurse my self I have seen death in its many phases  and faces .It was  wednesday June 25, 2008.

When our relatives and my brother  Jun Jun heard of the news that Hugo passed away, my younger brother decided to come home and help in the  burial preparation brought with him are the donations and support of our family in the states.God provision was more than enough to carry us through this calamity...when my brother's Insurance agent heard  he immediately process the death benifits  and claims  in Sun life.Jun arrived  three days after.With Bagyo Franks damage to our house and property plus my brothers passing away, you may say its a Double Jeopardy.But for that year alone a few months after , successive Months   2 of my son David and John,my daughter Gracie and Mama  where hospitalized due to dengue fever, community acquired pneumonia and U.T.I. all of them where admitted at Savior Hospital. I may say I've been a stock holder of this hospital ha ha ha. 

Remember the two prayers  I had  ...I asked God for new wardrobes and make me slim in a natural way.It came true when JunJun arrive from the states he brought with him two balikbayan box and several luggages filled with goodies and clothes and pants and most of it fits my size giving me indeed a new wardrobe .And not to forget to mention A friend of ours, a young  couple Charmy and Jonathan Coo offered to me and my wife lovely clothes as well as the Lingkod ng Panginoon group.Thank you God. And I  used to be weighing 225 LBS a few days after Frank I was down to 175 lbs with all the shovelling and lost of appetite due to madding mud everywhere I don't need to join the Biggest Loser  to command a lost weight of 50 lbs. For me that was another answered prayer. Just making myself laugh after all this tragedy. Being Pathologically Positive I have lot to thank God for.

For me Remembering Frank is Remembering My Brother Hugo. He was  a man of faith.Allow me to share what his friend DR. Demie O.Tidon shared  In the Burial Ceremony on July 5,2008..Hugo Maybe  small in stature ( he was just 5'2) or not a success in the standard of this world ...but he is a Giant in God's eyes and God's Kingdom. I too can  attest for his Love of God. My brother is a Dystonia patient he suffered for ten years agonizing the pain and the immobility  but never did he complained about it before God.When he was still in his prime health he devoted himself in the works of God and the church. I know he is Celebrating  and enjoying his reward in heaven. He died at the age of 46. And Most of All Remembering Bagyo  Frank that Fateful day June 21, 2008 is Remembering God's Love, Protection and Provision for our family, friends , neighbors , love ones,our city, our country.

                                                                                   THE END

The Romero's house their back wall fence collapsed due to floods pressure

see the road turned to a river in minutes

Our house Viewed from the Baylon house.