Women of Coron dream of a better life

CORON, PALAWAN—Adding to the sorrows brought on by the infernal heat in this searing season are the regular power outages that afflict this municipality on the island of Busuanga.

Residents say the outages—which last for most of the day, with electricity kicking in only when it gets dark—have been occurring for the last three weeks. This accounts for the hum of generators in many of the resorts around town, the restaurants that cater to foreign and local tourists, and some businesses along the main drag.

But locals say a more regular power supply is due to arrive “soon,” although no one can say exactly when that blessed day will come. A power plant has been constructed and is supposed to be operational by May 22, but given that this is the height of El Niño, no one can guarantee if the CIPC (Calamian Island Power Corp.) will be able to meet the deadline.

Still, the “iffy” power situation doesn’t seem to deter foreign tourists, who can be encountered in restaurants and shops and on the streets speaking in a smattering of languages. Europeans seem to dominate the visitors.

“There are no beaches in Coron,” said Beth Yang, the national coordinator of Pilipina, which is cooperating with the Asian Development Bank, government agencies like the Departments of Agriculture and of Social Welfare and Development, and other offices, to implement a social amelioration program.

Instead, Coron is “the gateway to the prime tourist destination of the Calamianes Group of Islands in Northern Palawan,” according to a government tourism brochure.

Using Coron as a jump-off point, tourists can visit marine parks, picturesque lakes, hot springs, the sites of World War II Japanese shipwrecks, and plenty of beaches.

Of particular interest, glimpsed from the dock of Coron, is Culion, site of a former “leper colony,” which has since become a most beautiful destination of beaches, mountains and historic structures, at least according to those who have been there.

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BUT tourism is not the reason I am in Coron today.

With funding and technical support from the ADB and together with the DSWD and other supportive agencies, Pilipina is working with grantees of the “4Ps,” the conditional cash transfer program managed primarily by the DSWD in different parts of the country, to fashion their own “gender action plans.”

This is especially urgent in Coron, which was battered last November by the powerful winds of “Yolanda” as it exited the country, but which has not received the necessary attention—and resulting funding and assistance—in the wake of the “supertyphoon.”

Upon arrival, it was pointed out, the visitor should notice the new GI-sheet roofing in many homes, replacing the roofs that were blown away by Yolanda. “We never experienced a storm as powerful as that!” testified residents. But along with the roofs over their heads, the folks of Coron lost much of their livelihoods and their sources of food and security. They also felt their family relationships shatter under the weight of disaster, hardship, tragedy and poverty.

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ON Nov. 8 last year, the residents recall, the sun was shining relentlessly through much of the day. The 4Ps beneficiaries were especially elated when they were given a free day because the resource persons for their family orientation—from PhilPost—had failed to make it to Coron.

But in the afternoon the skies began to darken, and the winds whipped through the skies. Officials of the town made the rounds of the barangays and urged the residents to evacuate.

Some of the 4Ps beneficiaries chose to stay in their homes. When Yolanda struck, they were horrified to see the typhoon winds peeling away their roofs and shaking their walls. Those who had fled to safer and higher ground discovered, when they finally returned, their residences, along with the implements for their livelihood, especially the  bangka  (boats), in ruins.

But this was not the end of their suffering. Many days passed before relief goods arrived, and amid the initial confusion, some got more supplies than others. Some residents observed that in the days after the disaster, “we were able to taste almost all the brands of sardines and instant noodles.”

Sadly, the women have yet to undergo posttraumatic stress debriefing, perhaps caught up as they were in the struggle to survive the immediate postdisaster period, and to find new lives and livelihoods.

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DURING the consultations with the women beneficiaries, they stressed the need to learn new skills and capacities in the face of the sudden devastation wrought by Yolanda.

In some barangays there are no bakeries, so the women said they would appreciate skills training in baking, especially in turning out the very saleable pan de sal. Tailoring was another potential source of income identified, with the women commenting that even if ukay-ukay  (second-hand) clothes sell very well, customers still visit tailors or seamstresses to have these items repaired or refitted.

Others said their traditional livelihood/skill was weaving mats, hats and other items from pandan leaves, but expressed concern that they might have to wait a long time before they take this up again because Yolanda had destroyed much of their pandan crops. But they saw an alternative in flower arrangements. There is no flower shop in Coron, which has a ready market because of the hotels and the steady stream of tourists.

Indeed, despite the hardships in the wake of Yolanda, and from the isolation of this island-town, the women of Coron still have a lot of strength and imagination to wield in their fight against hardship and their search for a better life.