Quake revives yaru among Ivatans
By Juliet Cataluña, Philippine Daily Inquirer

The Ivatans of Batanes have mastered the art of survival due to their strong resolve to overcome their hard environment. With an average of 20 typhoons hitting the province yearly, the Ivatans have to think of ways to cope with disaster or face adversity.

One of the qualities that have enabled Ivatans to bounce back after each disaster, is their strong sense of community or oneness. For them, the misfortune of one is everybody's problem. The prevailing spirit of yaru or readiness to render free labour for families and for the benefit of all is one of their peculiar traits that has been proven as their source of strength through the centuries.

The spirit of yaru (bayanihan for Tagalogs) has again played a major role in the reconstruction of Batanes after a 6.9 intensity earthquake struck the islands on July 16.

Defence Secretary Orlando Mercado, who is also a chair of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, said the quake damaged at least P50-million worth of property in the province.

Among those damaged were the centuries-old Sto. Domingo de Guzman Church (Basco Cathedral), government buildings, roads, power lines, water pipelines and houses.

The upper portion of the facade of the Sto. Domingo de Guzman Church in Basco fell while most churches in other towns were also damaged. Most of the damaged houses are old and made of lime and stone.

Yaru came into play as families whose houses were damaged by the quake struggled to rebuild their homes. Men and women in the neighborhood came to the affected families' assistance and offered either their free labour or materials for the construction of houses.

Yaru was most evident in Barangay Itbud in Uyugan town. Mercado failed to inspect damaged in Itbud because roads leading to that village were impassable. Of the 92 houses in the village-mostly made of stone and lime-62 were damaged while 20 were destroyed. Only 10 houses were spared.

Immediately after the quake, officials and men in the village went around to see how everybody was doing. They also helped evacuate families to the school building and barangay hall in the village. The families whose houses were not damages offered their homes to the evacuees.

Rep. Florencio Abad, Gov. Vicente Gato and other officials are now studying ways to help victims cope with the recent disaster by introducing livelihood projects for those affected.

While the Ivatans have learned to cope with typhoons, the recent quake came like a thief in the night. Typhoon have developed the survival instincts of Ivatans, but quake's effects would harness their strong sense of community and faith in God to prepare for the wrath of nature.