It was one o’clock in the morning of December 17, 2011 when Mang Wilfredo Gonzaga, a resident of Bayug, Iligan City, woke up to the thundering sound of destructive flood. In just a few seconds, he found himself, his wife and his four children floating in the water along with logs and boulders of rocks. The first thing he did was to grab his youngest son. Everything was a blur after that.

Four months later, Mang Wilfredo still gets teary eyed when he talks about the tragic event of how he lost to the flood brought by typhoon Sendong his wife and eldest daughter. For four months now, they have been living, as other victims of typhoon Sendong, in one of the tent cities in Iligan City.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), is conducting a rapid assessment on the victims of typhoon Sendong. The assessment covers all the evacuation centers, tent cities, temporary shelters and even those that have returned to their houses in affected areas of Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan city.

The main goal of this activity is to determine the needs of affected households. This also intends to review the conditions and status of households already in the database and assess households that are not in the database but were affected by the typhoon. The rapid assessment will give picture to the conditions of those affected and guide the DSWD, other national government agencies and stakeholders what assistance and services to provide for the victims of typhoon Sendong.

Mang Wilfredo remains hopeful and keeps his faith. According to him, he draws his strength from his children. “Kailangan kong maging malakas para sakanila. Kami ay umaasa na sa nalalapit na panahon ay matulungan kami upang magkaroon ng maayos na tirahan para naman makapagsimula ulit kami,” said Mang Wilfredo.