Mga Kuwentong Larawan: Tales of Hope and Grief in the Aftermath of Ondoy

The aftermath of Ondoy is a visual spectacle of devastation, sadness, and ultimately hope and heroism. I have personally interviewed many of the families hard hit by this terrible disaster, and each time the interview ended, my heart filled with sadness that these happened especially among the poor people. The families thought that telling their stories can somehow assuage their pain and suffering. As a writer and photographer, there is only so much that I can handle lest I begin to question the validity of my faith. Yet, I know that the task of the documentary photographer is to dig deep into the heart of things. I have to make a sense out of this chaos.

What follows is a photographic account of what I have seen when I surveyed the devastated landscape in the aftermath of Ondoy. Each portrait tells the viewer a thousand words, but only those who experienced the disaster can ever know of the suffering and grief they experienced during one of the most tragic natural calamities in recent history.

Mang Boy looks resignedly at his washed out possessions. Marikina City.

Scene after the deluge. The flood reached up to the very roofs of these houses. The residents stayed all night waiting for rescue on top of the roofs. Marikina City.

Cleaning the mud


There is still hope for better days. The good thing about the Filipinos is that they can still managed to smile after the disaster.

Evacuation Center in Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City. The place is now home to some 700 families.



Some children start to suffer from diarrhea, dengue and other diseases.









No food to eat.





Relief goods in very short supply.


Aling Maria Luz Magallanes,53, mother of 18-year-old Muelmar Magallanes who perished during the deluge. Muelmar Magallanes was a hero in this tragic story. A powerful swimmer, Muelmar managed to save more than 30 people from drowning, before a wall collapsed that instantly killed him.






Felix Saloma, 45, survived the ordeal during the terrible night of September 26, when his house was totally submerged by the deluge. He had his common-law wife in a tight grip when he suddenly smashed in a solid wall, severely injuring him. He lost his wife in the flood but hopes that she survived. The wife had already been missing for five days and each day that passes makes slimmer hope that she will be found alive.


Lola Maria, 77, lost everything but hope. No relief goods have arrived yet, though.


Looking for a girlfriend and her sister.


Lolo Mauricio Comprendio, 66, lost all five grandchildren during the deluge:Cielo, 10, Lawrenz, 6, Alyssa, 5, Mark, 3, and a newborn baby whom he only remembers as named "baby". The children's father (Mang Mauricio's son) also drowned. The mother survived but was attending to his husband's remains in the nearby funeraria. Mang Mauricio hopes there will be kindhearted soul who will help him transport his six dead in his native Iloilo.