If the circumstances were not so tragic, it could have felt like an episode of Amazing Race. I was assigned to chase a storm up and down Luzon as others fled or suffered its consequences. I saw a lot of consequences. My journey mirrored the helter-skelter route of Typhoon Pepeng, which landed in Cagayan, seemed to leave for other lands, then doubled back to dump a disastrous volume of rain on northwest Luzon. Covering Pepeng took me from Zambales to Pangasinan, then La Union, Ilocos Sur, and finally Baguio where I have been assigned to finally stay put and report on the full range of human reactions to catastrophe. We arrived in Zambales at dawn on October 3. The first challenge was for me and my crew – Kim Sorra and Ting Poa -- to cross dangerously high waters in Bgy. Carael in Botolan. The municipal hall was on the other side. Our satellite set-up for the live report was also there.
Floodwaters reached seven feet. Some brave souls negotiated the rapids riding a tire salbabida. A man even attempted to cross hanging on to a power line but quit halfway through. One option was to take a boat from one of the riverside barangays. It was just a 10-minute ride but the strong current also made it perilous. The news desk left the decision to me. If I wasn’t comfortable doing it, we could stay. We went for it, and almost collided with another boat because the current was dragging the boats in all directions. The whole time I was telling myself it’s just a quick ride and imagining already being on the other side of the river, where another news crew was waiting for me. On October 6, we made our way to Pangasinan to cover rising floodwaters in several barangays in Dagupan and Calasiao. We left for Ilocos Sur on October 8 at 5 am not knowing that hours later water from dams around Pangasinan would turn the whole province into a virtual water world.
Locals would say they remember me as the reporter who walked through thick mud or hiked near a cliff. They appreciated what we did. That alone has already made my circuitous tour worth the hazards.
But we weren’t better off in Ilocos Sur either. I learned that a few minutes after we passed Bgy. Baoang in Bantay a landslide occurred. For hours, the main highway in and out of Vigan was blocked. In the municipality of Santa, to get to five barangays my team and I had to walk through a flooded and muddied stretch of road after Pepeng damaged the Parada-Rancho road. After a tricyle ride, we had to get off, hike again and then walk across a makeshift bamboo bridge because the Calumbuyan Bridge was destroyed by the ferocious water of the Abra river. Our exhaustion was erased by residents who were more than grateful that we reached their place in order to tell their story. Their main complaint was about the long-delayed implementation by the DPWH of a river control project to contain the flow of water in the Abra River, which usually overflows during the rainy season. They were now suffering from this negligence. Perhaps the biggest challenge was making it to Baguio City, which had been isolated for several days after Pepeng caused landslides blocking all three main highways leading to the country’s summer capital. No GMA News crew had yet reached the city, so we felt the pressure to get there. On October 9, the original plan was for us to take Naguilian Road. But La Union officials advised us there was no way we could get past landslides in Burgos town. Marcos Highway was a better option because it was passable until Tuba, Benguet. As soon as we got to Tuba, we thought the situation was hopeless. There was no way we could cross into Baguio city unless we walked through knee-deep mud over a distance of more than 200 meters. After that we’d have to take a short ride then walk again this time on a narrow strip of road – all that was left after a landslide dismembered a stretch of the highway. But I knew we had no choice. Good thing I had my knee-high boots (Plueys!). I left some of my things in the pickup so my backpack would be lighter. Too bad for my crew – now Jojo Tagle and Pete Sanggalang -- who had to carry all the equipment – two cameras, a tripod, batteries, charger and their personal stuff. (Halfway there, we realized we could hire porters – we jokingly called them Sherpas, as in the guides on Mt. Everest) There was also a part of the muddied road that straddled a cliff. It was only a short distance but crossing it was nerve-wracking. After more than an hour, we finally made it to Baguio! Four days later I’m still in Baguio. I feel fortunate to have survived intact with my crew and be able to file stories about how the city has coped with isolation and tragedy. More than 50 people were killed in Baguio, mostly from landslides, the multiple disasters that made our journey up the mountain feel like I was traversing Mount Everest. Several times, locals would point to me and say they remember me as the reporter who walked through thick mud or hiked near a cliff. They appreciated what we did so we could report on their situation. That alone has already made my unpredictable, circuitous tour of Luzon worth the hazards.
- GMANews.TV 
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