Bicol Rising

Supertyphoon “Reming" (international name: Durian) killed several hundred people and destroyed hundreds of millions of people worth of property when it battered the country, particularly the Bicol region. But the casualty count and the damage reports can’t capture the emotional trauma suffered by those who have had to endure the devastation. Jay Taruc has traveled many times to Bicol in the past year for his documentaries on whale sharks, Mayon Volcano, and teachers. His return to the region is not a happy one. He revisits the shores of Padang and Bigaa villages, popular for whale sharks that converge in its waters, only to find a virtual desert. Gone are the boats, the noise of fishermen and children. Everywhere, there are only flattened fields of destruction. Jay also revisits schools in towns featured in a previous documentary, only to find that these are no longer filled with students but with displaced residents. Old friends and interviewees are now among the homeless. In the midst of it all, Taruc documents the efforts of Bicolanos to overcome the tragedy and slowly rebuild their lives. I-Witness airs Monday late nights after Saksi.