REMEMBERING. A survivor lights a candle near a shipwreck in coastal Anibong District in Tacloban City on the night of Nov. 7, 2023. Several local government units in Eastern Visayas suspended work in the government and classes on Wednesday (Nov. 8, 2023) to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda that flattened communities in 2013. (Photo courtesy of Tacloban City Information Office)
TACLOBAN CITY – Several local government units in Eastern Visayas suspended work in the government and classes on Wednesday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda that flattened communities in 2013.
Mayors signed executive orders late Tuesday on the suspension of work and classes to allow residents to participate in locally initiated commemorative activities.
Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez said the suspension is necessary for the residents to solemnly commemorate the catastrophe that killed more than 2,000 people in the city.
“The city of Tacloban recognizes the profound impact of the catastrophic event on the lives of our citizens and solemnly commemorates the 10th anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda,” he said in his directive.
Orders on work and class suspension were also issued in the towns of Palo, Tanauan, Tolosa, Carigara, Babatngon, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Hindang, Hilongos, Bato, Abuyog, Calubian, Matalom, MacArthur, Dagami, Isabel, Burauen, Albuera, Mahaplag, Merida, Leyte, Tabango, Villaba, Barugo, San Isidro, and Matag-ob in Leyte province.
Other areas with the same order are the towns of Guiuan, Dolores, and Oras in Eastern Samar; Basey, Sta. Rita, and Marabut in Samar; and Maasin City in Southern Leyte.
Mayors issued executive orders pending the approval of a proposed law declaring every Nov. 8 as a holiday in the six provinces of Eastern Visayas.
On Nov. 4, 2019, the House of Representatives approved House Bill 4960 declaring every Nov. 8 as “Yolanda Commemoration Day” in the region.
A separate bill filed in 2017 is still pending in the Senate.
Yolanda made its first landfall over Guiuan town on Nov. 8 at a time when many residents were still sleeping. On the same day, it made six landfalls.
The official Yolanda death count was 6,300 with 5,902 recorded in the Eastern Visayas region. (PNA)
