Eskrima Kombat

I’ve been in Tacloban city, and flew in and out of the airport there.

It’s a beautiful city on a harbor, with a view of the island of Samar just across the way. The San Juanico bridge runs from Tacloban on the island of Leyte across the strait to the island of Samar. It’s one of the longest bridges in Asia.

I remember sitting in a food court on the second floor of the Gaisano Tacloban, kind of like a Philippine Macy’s, and looking out over the bay. I remember eating grilled chicken at a place on the water’s edge.

Now when I see the pictures, I can’t believe it. The Philippines is used to typhoons, like snow in Minnesota, but I suppose few grasped the magnitude of the storm, which I’ve read was literally immeasurable.

I know a Filipino-American couple in which the wife is from Tacloban. Her father in Tacloban is missing. A group of Filipinos decided to take shelter in her father’s house on the second floor to avoid the floods. They were all killed. She’s now back in the Philippines trying to do something, meet with family, even though she knows she can’t go to Tacloban.

You can donate to the Red Cross here.