Catanduanes Forum

Dear Dr. Virola:

I must admit that I have been a fan of your column since I started covering the NEDA. It's your candidness and sincerity in every Statistically Speaking column that has made me want to read more of your writings. However, I would like to comment on your column published today about typhoons. I have never written an opinion letter before so please, bear with me.

You said in your column that "The residents of Virac may have to consider living elsewhere." Were you referring to the whole of Catanduanes? Because first, Catanduanes is not just Virac. The province has 11 municipalities but its capital is Virac. A weather station was built in Virac and was the reason why Virac is usually mentioned in typhoon reports. This may have been a blessing to the PAGASA but oftentimes a bane for the province since Catanduanes is now more known as a typhoon destination rather than a tourist destination.

I know this because my mother is from Catanduanes and though I did not grow up in the province, I was there every summer vacation from March to May virtually every year of my young adolescent life. I would also frequent the province since my mother is based there as a lawyer and that i am also a devotee of Our Lady of the Assumption in Viga, Catanduanes.

I know that Catanduanes is not a stranger to typhoons because our house in Virac has not been spared from the wrath of mother nature. Our house in Virac is only a 10-minute walk from the Virac pier and because of this very strong typhoon winds and heavy rains would even cause the wall of our house to fall off or our roof to fly elsewhere. Often, the safest part of our house is the restroom downstairs which is the only part of our home that is completely cemented.

Even if our circumstances are like this every time a major typhoon comes, we never considered moving completely either to the mainland (Albay) or Manila or any other province. It is unthinkable even if our family has the means to leave the province. Typhoons are not events to us, they are a part of our lives and we embrace it. Unlike what most Pinoys think, we in Catanduanes have built so much of our lives in the province around typhoons so we never considered it a hindrance to a decent and happy life. Further, not only have our families been in Catanduanes for centuries, our people have also made its own history. I even consider it quite amazing how the poorest Catandunganons are even able to rebuild their lives after typhoons. Despite this disadvantage they still produce majority of the abaca grown in the country or the tiger grass used for making brooms in Baguio City (yes, our tiger grass is 'exported' by Baguio because they cannot meet their own requirements).

Other reasons why we cannot leave our province is because of our natural resources. Unlike most provinces in the Philippines, Catanduanes' forest cover is still 50 to 70 percent intact making the air we breathe as fresh as we can get. Our beaches are unspoilt and you can even go skinny dipping without having to share our white sandy beaches with anyone. And while Siargao is very well known as a surfing destination, our Puraran beach is considered by foreign tourists the best surfing destination in the country. Why? Because foreigners can ride majestic waves or barrel waves in Puraran, something that does not happen in Siargao.

When I was still working for the Manila Times, one of our photographers was assigned to cover the devastation in Catanduanes of one of the bigger typhoons after the 2004 elections. After his coverage he told me how amazed he was that despite the destruction of houses, many Catandunganons still had the spirit to celebrate since he saw some men drinking gin while reconstructing their houses. He asked me why they still seem to be able to live their lives despite the tragedy that has just befallen them. I just said "practice makes perfect." While he laughed at my remark, I knew that he understood what I meant that despite the hardships, we were still in the best possible place we can be in the world.

For the sake of argument, if all 200,000+ Catandunganons consider leaving the province, where will they go? What kind of life will await them? Will our abaca and tiger grass farmers be willing to leave their land behind? Not even our Overseas Filipino Workers or those who have migrated abroad want to leave the province completely. They intend to go back whenever they can to reminisce, enjoy the company of relatives and childhood friends, and relish the beauty of mother nature at its finest--at no or minimal cost to them.

I wrote this comment just to share with you what kind of province Catanduanes is for all of us who consider it home. Also, I would like to say that we cannot easily be removed like refugees. I know there are better ways to ensure the safety of the people and development of the province of Catanduanes. Removing us from the province is simply an escapist's way of solving the problem.

I wish to end this letter by first inviting you to our province and see for yourself how life is in our "corner of the sky" if you may and second, thanking you for expressing your opinions as candidly as you do. Journalists, like me, hold in high esteem officials like you who are honest and open to your ideas and suggestions.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Cai U. Ordinario
Reporter, Business Mirror

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Here's his reply:

Dear Cai,
Thanks for the invitation to Catanduanes and thanks for your email.
Actually, I was in Cam Sur recently and we could see Catanduanes from Caramoan. We were told that typhoons coming from Catanduanes would surely hit Caramoan as well but what we saw in Caramoan was simply beautiful!
On the sentence that you referred to, no, I certainly did not mean the whole of Catanduanes, but only Virac ( because that is what the PAGASA data referred to), and only because of the typhoon data. Meaning that residents of Virac may consider living elsewhere in Catanduanes as I could not conclude that if a typhoon inflicted heavy damage in Virac, the rest of Catanduanes would suffer as much. I also used "may" because I recognize that many of us find it difficult to leave a place we have learned to love. I for one, will not leave our country to live elsewhere. And we all know how difficult it is to convince people living along the slopes of majestic Mayon to leave the area despite frantic evacuation warnings.
Before we saw the typhoon data, we did not realize that Virac was a "typhoon destination" and we certainly feel sad for the people of Virac. I regret that the article may have offended the Catandunganons. I have thus edited out some portions which are not really necessary..
Thank you Cai for your support to Statistics and to NSCB.
More power.
RAVirola