MANILA, Philippines—It started out as an online appeal on Facebook on Wednesday night for passengers wanting to go home to their families to Balangiga, Eastern Samar, which was ravaged by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) last week.
Overnight, over 40 people from all over Metro Manila and nearby provinces converged at a police camp in Quezon City, but with an added mission — to bring relief goods bought with their own money to their townmates.
Braving the morning sun, the passengers — with boxes of personal donations and even water in hand — patiently waited for their companions to arrive so that they could begin their journey home.
Inside the no-aircon passenger bus, boxes of noodles, canned food, and other relief goods made it difficult for one to walk.
The impromptu mission even managed to come up with 20 cavans of rice and five gallons of mineral water – all from the passengers’ pockets.
“We will fight to the teeth to get these goods home to our families,” boldly said Gemma Balmaceda, the “organizer” of the impromptu mission.
A civilian employee of the Quezon City Police District’s Traffic Enforcement Unit in Camp Karingal, Balmaceda has been worried sick about her mother Estrella.
Since the typhoon struck last week, she has not heard from her mother, who lives in the town famous for the Balangiga massacre.
Balmaceda initially wanted to hitch a ride with the government’s C-130 planes, but there were too many passengers.
This prompted her to approach her boss, Senior Inspector Erlito Renegin, for help.
“I asked him, ‘Sir, maybe you can help me in getting a passenger bus. I just want to get home and check on my mother,” Balmaceda said.
Renegin, who heads the TEU’s Traffic Sector 3 based in Camp Karingal, decided to hire a bus to ferry the passengers to Balangiga so they could get home to their loved ones.
“They are having a hard time getting a ride at the station because there are too many people wanting to go home to the province. So I hired a bus for them. They will still be paying the regular fare,” Renegin said.
He also urged bus companies to help out in this time of need: “They should be of service at this crucial time. Everyone should help others.”
This was the same reason why Balmaceda and the other passengers decided to pull their resources and gather relief goods for their town.
“Sadly, the relief missions from the government and other private groups will barely reach our town. So we have to do it ourselves,” she said.
On Wednesday, she posted a message on Facebook, saying she would hire a bus to go home to Balangiga. Overnight, her wall was flooded with questions from acquaintances like the time, meeting place, and the fare rate.
She initially wanted to get 50 passengers for the trip, but as of Thursday morning, more than 40 had confirmed their intent to join the journey home.
Some of the passengers are from Novaliches, Las Piñas, Taguig, and even Bulacan and Batangas —all hailing from Balangiga and wanting to check up on their loved ones.
The day-long trip costs each passenger P1,300. Balmaceda plans to stay for three to four days before coming back to Metro Manila.
“We plan to use the same bus in going back here. Only adults will be making the trip, we made sure there are no kids,” she said.
Most of the passengers had separate provisions for their loved ones, and relief goods for their townmates.
“We are determined to get home alive and bring this personal aid, not just to our families but to our townmates. In times like this, everyone is practically family,” Balmaceda added.
