Flying Out Of Tacloban After Yolanda
April 28, 2014. First time I flew out of Tacloban after Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan.
171 days after that super typhoon, to be exact. I already said in previous stories, all my exits from this region, since December 2013, had been by sea. Now I/we can fly!
Agawan, tyagaan, tsambahan pa rin (especially around or after midnight) in search of those elusive available slots. But as said earlier, I'm not complaining. We should not.
I mean tayong mga amoyong na makakati lang ang paa, let's not complain why seats to/from Tacloban are very rare to come by. You and I already know the reasons why.
But it is easing up. Eto nga, I was already able to grab a seat coming in last April 22, and here I was, able to grab a seat flying back to Cebu today. It's getting a bit better!
But I had a hunch. Maybe it was because I was on a noontime flight. Eh long before Yolanda, this airport was busier during the early mornings and late afternoons only.
That was likely to be the reason why it wasn't so crowded. Yey!
Look, it was already nearly full - but didn't I say this airport is/was only busier during the early mornings and/or late afternoons? Aw, yun na nga. It must be pandemonic!
If I was on a noontime flight and it was already this humidly hot and crowded, OMG.
I mean, in the past, even if it was already sardinas-style, there was airconditioing, at the very least. How would that be these days - eh ayan, warak ang dingding at pinto.
Surely the early morning and/or late afternoon scenes here would be horrendous, to say the least. Yet somewhere deep inside me, I actually wished I could experience it!
How sadistic 'no?! Ahehe, it's best to feel things first-hand, before telling the story! I even checked my calendar asking "doesn't any one need me in Manila ASAP please"?!
When that happens, I'll pick a morning or afternoon flight. Hiyay, sadista gud man!
Anyway, back to the "situation at hand", I walked to the front area, to catch this:
Not the man standing, but the now wide-open wall, that was glassed before Yolanda. But come to think of it, he added a bit of drama into my photo of an 'airport in ruins'!
Note: that photo is slanted, since I just discreetly clicked my camera. Panakaw ba! I hope and beg now, that those identifiable faces in the shot won't mind. Ha? Please?
Teka, unrelated to the 'state of the airport', I saw something disconcerting...
As if one wasn't enough, here was the other passenger that they had to bring down.
Nalooy ako. I mean for both passengers and those who had to very carefully unload them from the plane to the ground. A harsh sun at 11:51AM. What if it was raining?
One might readily say "this airport naman kasi, walang aerobridge". True, and I would agree. But isn't there a better way to do what they just did? I'm very certain there is.
Others might even blame it on Yolanda. Aw, I'll have to disagree. I've seen the same situation with this same or other airliners both domestically and elsewhere abroad.
Ganyan na talaga ang handling ni Cebu Pacific even before Yolanda. Nakakakaba.
There are better options. But let's discuss it in a separate blog entry. Mahaba eh!
That's Dio Island out there. Its background is a coastal area from Basey to Marabut.
But look to the side of the runway. It was already being re-fortified against battering waves, even before Yolanda arrived. Now we see that it 'all the more' needs a rehab.
Serious yan. Rising water level is eating up land. Eh kung lumubog si runway? Atara!
Look here as our plane made a 'pirouette' at the threshold of Runway 18...
Hehe, kahit ako natawa with my use of the word "pirouette"! Ano yan, ballet dancer? But that's what planes do at runways with no separate taxiways. Napansin nyo yan?
Anyway, I'm not a runway expert, but I think the water line and that pond (not sure if Yolanda-made) are now too near the runway. Ang Blast Pad, na-blast away na yata!
Anyway uli, while the plane was positioning to make bulusok na to the sky, I looked at the mangroves on the west flank of the runway. Para ngang malapit na ang dagat.
Hmm, whether it had already been so (due to climate change & rising water levels?) or whether Yolanda brought that in and didn't anymore recede - I think delikado na yan.
Ah, CAAP DPWH and whoever else would know better, bahala na them to us heheh!
So the plane pirouetted nga, and we took off on Runway 18 towards Palo.
Trivia: did you know that in 'aviation speak', that runway number is never pronounced as "eighteen"? Yep, digits are always each identified. So, that is "Runway One Eight".
I think I've mentioned that before, but no harm repeating the info, right?
Then we were airborne on a cloudy but clear enough noontime...
That is mostly the southern part of Tacloban, with a little bit of Palo on the left edge of the picture. Bothered, all I could do was whisper: "My God, it's virtually all of them".
What was I saying? What did I mean by that?
Ah, not scientific, but just as well accurate and realistic. At almost 200 days after the calamity, I just look at the roofs of houses, as an indicator of how bad they were hit.
When they're so vividly bright (any color) even at a distance (especially from above), it indicates to me that that roof had been repaired or replaced due to Yolanda's wrath.
And in most cases, the glimmering silvers under the sun's rays, are the most in need because they can't yet (or won't anymore) paint those roofs made of thin G.I. sheets.
You might say: shining silvery GI Sheet lang, most in need na agad? Then go see them at street level, to see for yourself. Most are dole-outs from humanitarian aid groups.
That's why my heart sinks when I see those bright vivid roofs, seen even from afar.
That's just one of my indicators. As I said, it's not scientific nor official. In fact, many of those not shiny are roofs still made of canvas (Lona) also provided by aid groups.
Here's another shot that I took as the plane continued banking right while climbing:
That, is an almost total capture of Cancabato Bay, around which many deaths were recorded. Easy to see why. Big waves entered, nowhere to go but ram the coastline.
But let's continue our "vividly bright (any color) roof" topic above. Look to the lower-right corner of the picture above. The triangular compound of blue-roofed buildings.
That is the San Jose Central School. You will feel in your heart a little pinch of pride & gratitude for being human! It's a showcase of the 'global bayanihan' I keep saying.
How is that? Ay, humanitarian groups, non-government organizations, government agencies, corporate social responsibility groups, etc., are helping it rebuild/recover.
It's a central school naman kasi, so many buildings, hindi kaya ng DepEd yan to rise back fast - for the pupils. Ayun, pinagtulung-tulungan to rebuild buildings plus more!
Not yet quite done, but if you go around that campus, you will see corporate names, appearing on literally every structure, as donor, sponsor, whatever - kaaliw tingnan!
As one sangkay says: adto man, kadamo hin "donated by"!
Trivia: it even came with its own funny little issues. Like? Ang sabi... there are/were two "entities" na nagka-tampuhan pa, dahil sa agawan ng building na gagawin. Da!
Ituloy ang tsismis... pinag-aagawan ang mga nasa gilid ng kalsada "for visibility". O!
Anyway.., here's a 3rd shot - from a higher altitude but covering most of Tacloban.
Oh, it would be best if I put some descriptive identifiers on that photo. Here we go:
#1 - Runway 18, where this flight took off.
#2 - Mangrove and marshy area behind the CAAP office building and some eateries; that's in a police training camp where Mar pre-positioned his disaster vehicles; duh!
That wide white patch of concrete below the arrow is the new tarmac-in-the-making. To the right of that is the existing airport's passenger & cargo terminals and tarmac.
RP-C3198 - pakpak ng 8 year old na plane ni Cebu Pacific. Under that, natabanunan na nya ang view of San Jose Central School and some residential areas of San Jose.
#3 - Coke and San Miguel Bottling Plant. A bit to the left of that, I saw two big boats (barges or tankers?) that were washed ashore, to the residential houses of that area.
There were not many residences after #3 going up towards #4. Restaurants meron!
#4 - Tacloban Astrodome. I already told you its story when I arrived, remember this?
Green Arrow - points to Old Sagkahan Road (now Esperas Ave.) where a lot of death and destruction occurred -because there were big communities of informal settlers.
There was(were?) an informal public market(talipapa) - a long stretch of huts & stalls well-known to Taclobanons. Fishing boats docked there to deliver their fresh catch.
#5 - Balyuan Amphitheater - across it, on a hill is the city hall.
#6 - Port of Tacloban - that's the other side of the city on Panalaron Bay, though just about 1 km away from #5. That is where the Mcdo that was submerged is situated.
Yellow Arrow - points to an area also facing Panalaron Bay, called Anibong District, that also had many informal settlers, where a lot of death and destruction occurred.
Devastation in that area did not only come from the wind and the big waves. Many homes and their occupants, were crushed by those cargo vessels washed ashore.
#7 - the San Juanico Bridge that withstood Yolanda/Haiyan's wrath.
Satisfied as a roamer. I got an aerial view of Tormented Tacloban.
For comparison to my earlier shots above Tacloban, look at the roofs of houses and buildings. Rare are the shining silvery GI sheets or the vivid colors of new roof paint.
That is because, a town or city won't altogether en masse replace their roofs, unless they were at the same time ravaged by a storm like Super Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan.
A learning: too many new roofs seen from the air means, prepare to be overwhelmed by the harrowing scenes of destruction, you will view, and/or experience on ground.
Anyway, comedy relief - I arrived, got my luggage, and saw this (on foreground):
Talagang inikutan ko, tinitigan, akala tuloy ng matandang yan siya ang inuusisa ko... and asked my self: kailan pa nagkaroon ng sala set with coffee table ang arrival area?!
Mao na diha! Haaay kalami sa kinabuhi hahaha!
Let's go on with normal life for the next 3 days. Because on the 4th day, as in apat na tulog lang, I'll go back to Tacloban. Ticketed na daw but by fastcraft to Ormoc. Gora!
171 days after that super typhoon, to be exact. I already said in previous stories, all my exits from this region, since December 2013, had been by sea. Now I/we can fly!
Agawan, tyagaan, tsambahan pa rin (especially around or after midnight) in search of those elusive available slots. But as said earlier, I'm not complaining. We should not.
I mean tayong mga amoyong na makakati lang ang paa, let's not complain why seats to/from Tacloban are very rare to come by. You and I already know the reasons why.
But it is easing up. Eto nga, I was already able to grab a seat coming in last April 22, and here I was, able to grab a seat flying back to Cebu today. It's getting a bit better!
Check-in
It was not chaotic at all. The area still has no air-conditioning. It felt like I was inside a Brgy Multi-purpose Hall but passengers and bags appeared to move smoothly fine.But I had a hunch. Maybe it was because I was on a noontime flight. Eh long before Yolanda, this airport was busier during the early mornings and late afternoons only.
That was likely to be the reason why it wasn't so crowded. Yey!
Pre-departure
Yep, where passengers wait to be called for boarding. And it felt a little disturbing.
If I was on a noontime flight and it was already this humidly hot and crowded, OMG.
I mean, in the past, even if it was already sardinas-style, there was airconditioing, at the very least. How would that be these days - eh ayan, warak ang dingding at pinto.
Surely the early morning and/or late afternoon scenes here would be horrendous, to say the least. Yet somewhere deep inside me, I actually wished I could experience it!
How sadistic 'no?! Ahehe, it's best to feel things first-hand, before telling the story! I even checked my calendar asking "doesn't any one need me in Manila ASAP please"?!
When that happens, I'll pick a morning or afternoon flight. Hiyay, sadista gud man!
Anyway, back to the "situation at hand", I walked to the front area, to catch this:
Note: that photo is slanted, since I just discreetly clicked my camera. Panakaw ba! I hope and beg now, that those identifiable faces in the shot won't mind. Ha? Please?
Teka, unrelated to the 'state of the airport', I saw something disconcerting...
How Cebu Pacific De-boards Wheelchair Passengers
There were two of them (that I saw) being disembarked. This was the first one.
As if one wasn't enough, here was the other passenger that they had to bring down.
One might readily say "this airport naman kasi, walang aerobridge". True, and I would agree. But isn't there a better way to do what they just did? I'm very certain there is.
Others might even blame it on Yolanda. Aw, I'll have to disagree. I've seen the same situation with this same or other airliners both domestically and elsewhere abroad.
Ganyan na talaga ang handling ni Cebu Pacific even before Yolanda. Nakakakaba.
There are better options. But let's discuss it in a separate blog entry. Mahaba eh!
Takeoff scenes
We were boarded immediately after the 2 wheelchair passengers and their families were taken to the arrival area. Yes oy, wala nang cleaning-cleaning na nagaganap at turn-around stations, since CebPac started flying in 1996. Budget Air style daw yan.Runway and vicinity
Noticeably clean. That is a safety requirement at all runways on earth. There should be no FOD (Foreign Object Debris) scattered around where airplanes normally pass.
But look to the side of the runway. It was already being re-fortified against battering waves, even before Yolanda arrived. Now we see that it 'all the more' needs a rehab.
Serious yan. Rising water level is eating up land. Eh kung lumubog si runway? Atara!
Look here as our plane made a 'pirouette' at the threshold of Runway 18...
Anyway, I'm not a runway expert, but I think the water line and that pond (not sure if Yolanda-made) are now too near the runway. Ang Blast Pad, na-blast away na yata!
Anyway uli, while the plane was positioning to make bulusok na to the sky, I looked at the mangroves on the west flank of the runway. Para ngang malapit na ang dagat.
Ah, CAAP DPWH and whoever else would know better, bahala na them to us heheh!
So the plane pirouetted nga, and we took off on Runway 18 towards Palo.
I think I've mentioned that before, but no harm repeating the info, right?
Then we were airborne on a cloudy but clear enough noontime...
Aerial views of the Yolanda-ravaged Southern Tacloban
Lucky me, just as it climbed, this plane immediately banked to the right (probably to spiral up before heading to Cebu), and I was on the right-side window, so I saw this:
What was I saying? What did I mean by that?
Ah, not scientific, but just as well accurate and realistic. At almost 200 days after the calamity, I just look at the roofs of houses, as an indicator of how bad they were hit.
When they're so vividly bright (any color) even at a distance (especially from above), it indicates to me that that roof had been repaired or replaced due to Yolanda's wrath.
And in most cases, the glimmering silvers under the sun's rays, are the most in need because they can't yet (or won't anymore) paint those roofs made of thin G.I. sheets.
You might say: shining silvery GI Sheet lang, most in need na agad? Then go see them at street level, to see for yourself. Most are dole-outs from humanitarian aid groups.
That's why my heart sinks when I see those bright vivid roofs, seen even from afar.
That's just one of my indicators. As I said, it's not scientific nor official. In fact, many of those not shiny are roofs still made of canvas (Lona) also provided by aid groups.
Here's another shot that I took as the plane continued banking right while climbing:
But let's continue our "vividly bright (any color) roof" topic above. Look to the lower-right corner of the picture above. The triangular compound of blue-roofed buildings.
That is the San Jose Central School. You will feel in your heart a little pinch of pride & gratitude for being human! It's a showcase of the 'global bayanihan' I keep saying.
How is that? Ay, humanitarian groups, non-government organizations, government agencies, corporate social responsibility groups, etc., are helping it rebuild/recover.
It's a central school naman kasi, so many buildings, hindi kaya ng DepEd yan to rise back fast - for the pupils. Ayun, pinagtulung-tulungan to rebuild buildings plus more!
Not yet quite done, but if you go around that campus, you will see corporate names, appearing on literally every structure, as donor, sponsor, whatever - kaaliw tingnan!
As one sangkay says: adto man, kadamo hin "donated by"!
Trivia: it even came with its own funny little issues. Like? Ang sabi... there are/were two "entities" na nagka-tampuhan pa, dahil sa agawan ng building na gagawin. Da!
Ituloy ang tsismis... pinag-aagawan ang mga nasa gilid ng kalsada "for visibility". O!
Anyway.., here's a 3rd shot - from a higher altitude but covering most of Tacloban.
Oh, it would be best if I put some descriptive identifiers on that photo. Here we go:
#2 - Mangrove and marshy area behind the CAAP office building and some eateries; that's in a police training camp where Mar pre-positioned his disaster vehicles; duh!
That wide white patch of concrete below the arrow is the new tarmac-in-the-making. To the right of that is the existing airport's passenger & cargo terminals and tarmac.
RP-C3198 - pakpak ng 8 year old na plane ni Cebu Pacific. Under that, natabanunan na nya ang view of San Jose Central School and some residential areas of San Jose.
#3 - Coke and San Miguel Bottling Plant. A bit to the left of that, I saw two big boats (barges or tankers?) that were washed ashore, to the residential houses of that area.
There were not many residences after #3 going up towards #4. Restaurants meron!
#4 - Tacloban Astrodome. I already told you its story when I arrived, remember this?
Green Arrow - points to Old Sagkahan Road (now Esperas Ave.) where a lot of death and destruction occurred -because there were big communities of informal settlers.
There was(were?) an informal public market(talipapa) - a long stretch of huts & stalls well-known to Taclobanons. Fishing boats docked there to deliver their fresh catch.
#5 - Balyuan Amphitheater - across it, on a hill is the city hall.
#6 - Port of Tacloban - that's the other side of the city on Panalaron Bay, though just about 1 km away from #5. That is where the Mcdo that was submerged is situated.
Yellow Arrow - points to an area also facing Panalaron Bay, called Anibong District, that also had many informal settlers, where a lot of death and destruction occurred.
Devastation in that area did not only come from the wind and the big waves. Many homes and their occupants, were crushed by those cargo vessels washed ashore.
#7 - the San Juanico Bridge that withstood Yolanda/Haiyan's wrath.
Satisfied as a roamer. I got an aerial view of Tormented Tacloban.
Cebu arrival
16 minutes after that aerial shot of Tacloban, here we were just above Liloan Cebu, descending towards Runway 22 of Mactan Cebu International Airport in Lapu-lapu.
That is because, a town or city won't altogether en masse replace their roofs, unless they were at the same time ravaged by a storm like Super Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan.
A learning: too many new roofs seen from the air means, prepare to be overwhelmed by the harrowing scenes of destruction, you will view, and/or experience on ground.
Anyway, comedy relief - I arrived, got my luggage, and saw this (on foreground):
Mao na diha! Haaay kalami sa kinabuhi hahaha!
Let's go on with normal life for the next 3 days. Because on the 4th day, as in apat na tulog lang, I'll go back to Tacloban. Ticketed na daw but by fastcraft to Ormoc. Gora!
#TravelPhilippines #tacloban #cebuairport
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