Paglaom

WHAT relationship does one have with a space that one only navigates after a disaster? And we’re not talking just any disaster, as I do speak of the strongest storm to make landfall in the world.

I ask that now almost a year since Typhoon Haiyan, as I sit in Tacloban’s Jose Karlo’s Café, a quiet escape from the long days of work I’ve had in this city. On a nearby wall are written the names of people the cafe thanks for helping them rebuild post-Haiyan. By the cashier are beautiful leather-bound journals that they’re selling to raise funds for their staff members still in the process of rebuilding their lives. They sell t-shirts on which is written: Better Leyte Than Never.