Marcos: We must commemorate uncounted dead from Yolanda

The uncounted fatalities from Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) should never be forgotten, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday.

Marcos was in Tacloban City, Leyte to attend the 9th-year commemoration of the devastation caused by the super typhoon.

“I come here because I must commemorate those uncounted dead that up to now we do not know how many that number is. We must come to these commemorations so that we will remember those who we were told not to remember,” Marcos said in his speech.

“If you remember, during the count of the casualties, the count was stopped and we knew that there were still thousands out there and for those thousands… those countless thousands… we come here, we commemorate. Because if we no longer commemorate, their memory dies and it is only up to us to keep that memory alive," he added.

According to Marcos, the commemoration was also a demonstration and a manifestation of the strength and courage of Filipinos.

“To remind ourselves that Filipinos are brave, that Filipinos are kind, and that Filipinos will conquer all especially if it is for their community, and for their families, and for the land that they love,” Marcos said.

Years after the destruction of Yolanda, Marcos said that Tacloban City had been rebuilt. He noted that even in times of calamities, Filipinos will surely recover.

"And it is a wondrous sight to see. And it always gives us hope that even if there are tragedies and disasters in other places, we know the Filipino spirit will never be quelled. The Filipino spirit will always burn bright and bring back normal life to their communities. That is what we commemorate," Marcos said.

"So these are the different elements that we were thinking of as we were going through the relief and rescue process during — just after Yolanda. Is that what happens to all these people? How will we ever recover from this? Well, again, because of that Filipino spirit, that is how we have recovered from this," he added.

In 2013, Yolanda hit the Eastern Visayas bringing massive damage in most parts of the region and leaving more than 6,000 people dead and over 28,000 injured.

The super typhoon was estimated to have caused P89 billion in damage. — DVM, GMA Integrated News