09 December 2006
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
LEGAZPI CITY—WITH ONLY A piece of cable wire to cling to and his strength stretched to the limit, security guard Rey Jan Borillo, 18, of Barangay Libod, Camalig, Albay, was able to save about 100 residents at the height of Supertyphoon “Reming.”
Borillo was on duty at the Aspe Pawnshop, which was beside a narrow passageway leading to hundreds of shanties in the slums of Barangay Kapantawan in Camalig, when strong winds and torrents wreaked devastation here.
He saw how the flood rose and surpass the height of an average man, which sent residents in the village fleeing from their homes.
However, the strong current and increasing volume of floodwaters, and the hysteria it brought to the people, made it almost impossible to survive.
Hearing the cries of the residents for help, Borrillo, who was six feet and an inch tall, waded through the narrow passageway, carried old and young people on his back and brought them to a three-story building where the pawnshop was renting space.
“I really hoped to see everyone alive, even if I did not know them personally. Lost dwellings and property could be replaced but never a man’s life,” Borillo told the Inquirer.
The building owner, Evelyn Brizuela, accommodated over 100 people and gave them food to eat.
Helping Borillo was his co-security guard Ricky Legisniana, 21, of Palanog Camalig.
“I was worried for my friend but I saw his courage and determination to offer help to those who needed it. Since he was taller than I was, I just stayed here in the building to get those people he had saved,” Legisniana said.
Gasping for breath
Borillo, who got his foot wounded by stepping on a broken fluorescent bulb while saving lives, had to swim just to get to members of a family trapped in their house.
He recounted carrying an old woman who was gasping for breath as if she was nearing death and a woman who was engulfed by floodwaters jumping to keep her head above water and to catch her breath.
“I could no longer count how many times I had to go back to the village from the pawnshop. For as long as I heard cries for help or saw those who silently pleaded for it, I just kept going until I saw it was all over,” said Borillo.
He and Legisniana, who did not have lunch while on duty that day, were still wondering where their strength came from.
They had also been on straight duty for 24 hours—the whole day when the typhoon made its landfall and the night the city was submerged, when only the roofs of vehicles and food stalls could be seen.
Both did not have quarters and simply sat on plastic chairs outside the pawnshop during the height of the typhoon without sufficient cover to shelter them from the raging storm.
After the typhoon, the two guards were on another straight duty for 24 hours as the guards who were supposed to relieve them were not able to report for duty.
“What happened was an ultimate test of strength. I am glad for what I have achieved and still could not believe I was destined to do such feat at the risk of even losing my own life,” said Borillo.
Both said they were also worried for their families who were left in Camalig.
“While I was here saving strangers, I could not even help my own family during the disaster. But I felt better when I got home seeing them all safe,” said Borillo.
No one was recorded dead or missing in the village the day after the storm.
“If it were not for the two security guards, this building and its generous owner, many could have died in our village,” said Rey Abordo.
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