Four weeks after typhoon Haiyan, it is mostly the survivors helping recovery efforts off the ground (Dec. 4, 2013; News.com.au)

Post date: Dec 4, 2013 10:59:24 PM

THE reek of death is all-pervasive. The cries of despair, everywhere. But, in the distance, the sound of choppers and trucks are a reminder of the thin lifeline being threaded through the wreckage left behind by Typhoon Haiyan.

While the international relief effort is now in full swing, it is mostly the people of the Philippines that are helping themselves.

It is an informal - and sometimes underground - supply chain that is helping many people put food on the table.

Survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan march during a religious procession in Tolosa on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte Source: AFP

Families from as far away as Manila and the southern island of Mindanao endure long journeys by air, sea and land to bring food packs, tents, medicines and other materials to affected relatives who have so far not seen any practical help from the much-publicised international aid activity.

Some 3.8 million people were displaced by the record winds on November 8 often peaking at more than 300km/h.

Typhoon Haiyan survivors ride motorbikes through the ruins of the destroyed town of Guiuan, Philippines. (AP / David Guttenfelder, File) Source: AP

Now, friends stay with friends and communities share whatever they have, especially if a neighbour has babies, children or elderly members.

Mrs Marife Sumapig and her family have received only one food pack since Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever to hit land, smashed through the central Philippines on November 8, leaving more 5632 dead, 1759 missing, 26,000 injured and millions homeless.

A survivor sniffs cream to keep from stench of death at typhoon-hit Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, hit the country's eastern seaboard Nov. 8, leaving a wide swath of destruction. (AP / Aaron Favila) Source: AP

The aid package contained four kilograms of rice, some cup noodles and two cans of sardines - barely enough for a few days.

"But despite getting help only once, we have not gotten hungry so far. There seems to be food on the table every day," she said from her damaged house in the city of Tacloban, one of the hardest-hit places.

John Ay-ay, 7, kisses a toy he found from the rubble in Tacloban city, Leyte. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) Source: AP

"Today I ate lunch at my sister's place. Yesterday, my husband bought some vegetables in another town, so we're tiding over."

Mrs Sumapig, her husband and their eight-year-old son have taken up an offer from a friend to stay at his house, one of the few private buildings in the city that is still habitable.

A survivor lights candles on a makeshift grave site of his father and uncle, left, on a field in Palo town, Leyte province, central Philippines. (AP / Aaron Favila, File) Source: AP

Help is coming in from Manila, where their 17-year-old daughter Ameel is studying. "When her classmates learned that she is from Tacloban, they pooled their resources and gave her some money and groceries," Mrs Sumapig said.

In the town of Burawin, about 40 kilometres from Tacloban, three men were chewing on dried squid as they supped a gin and cola, courtesy of a relative who had travelled from the city of General Santos on Mindanao to bring the goodies.

An aerial view shows signs for help and food amid the destruction left from Typhoon Haiyan in the coastal town of Tanawan, central Philippines. (AP / Wally Santana) Source: AP

"It took me about 30 hours travelling by ship and bus to come here," said Mr Juanito Nario, 47.

He said he brought the squid, rice, noodles, canned goods, medicine, soap and matches to his sister.

Philippine citizens gather around an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from the Golden Falcons of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12 as it delivers relief supplies in Guiuan, Philippines. Source: AFP

A less talked-about, but no less important side of the food chain in Tacloban and nearby towns, say residents, are items taken from two department stores in the first few days after the typhoon.

At the time there were no police officers on the streets and chaos reigned, resulting in a free-for-all as hungry people helped themselves to groceries and other merchandise.

A Super Typhoon Haiyan victim efforts to rebuild his destroyed house among debris of levelled homes in a Tacloban waterfront community on November 23, 2013. More than 4,000 people were killed and up to 4.4 million displaced when typhoon Haiyan packing some of the strongest winds ever recorded by a storm made landfall. AFP OTO / ODD ANDERSEN Source: AFP

A Tacloban entrepreneur, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said his family had been receiving food from scavengers they had sheltered in the storm's immediate aftermath.

He had allowed five families to put up temporary shelters on his wide front yard just after the storm hit, and received the kindness back many times over.

A Philippines Air Force helicopter crewman looks at the damage to the town of Tacloban after Typhoon Haiyan hit the east coast of the Philippines. AFP / Nicolas ASFOURI Source: AFP

"I was surprised because they would give us branded sausages and hot dogs which I knew came from a certain mall," the businessman said, apparently referring to the Robinsons supermarket chain, which was raided by mobs for four days before out-of-town police were flown in to impose order.

"We knew they were looted groceries but what can we do? We need food," said the businessman.

SA boy holds his baby brother at a makeshift house at the bay of Tacloban, Leyte. US humanitarian response to the devastation of Super Typhoon Haiyan highlights the need to expand America's military presence in the Philippines, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on November 25. AFP Source: AFP

"And they were generous enough to share them with us. Some of the stuff we also shared with those in need," he said.

Over the past week, AFP has been offered several items that appeared to have come from shops that have not been open since the storm, including alcohol and fruit.

Typhoon Haiyan survivors walk through the ruins in the streets of Tacloban. (AP / David Guttenfelder, File) Source: AP

"I think that by ransacking the supermarket, the residents forgot the trauma they suffered from the typhoon. Even those we knew had relatives who died participated in the looting," the businessman added.

"It seems that the motto was: You're not from Tacloban if you did not get something."

Typhoon survivors queue up for relief supplies being distributed along a highway in Tacloban city, Leyte. (AP / Bullit Marquez) Source: AP

Rebuilding will take up to five years and cost more than two billion dollars, officials said at the weekend.

"The total rehabilitation will take three to five years, depending on the pace of our support system and the projects we implement," Eduardo del Rosario, executive director of the NDRRMC, said.

US Marine Osprey aircraft arrive to deliver aid at Tacloban airport after Typhoon Haiyan hit the east coast of the Philippines. Source: AFP

He told reporters that President Benigno Aquino did not want to merely repair the damage but wants the new structures to be better than those that were standing before the storm.

"Our president wants the rehabilitation to be 'build-back better communities," so they can withstand future storms," del Rosario said.

US Navy helicopter delivers relief goods to typhoon victims in the aftermath of typhoon Haiyan in Ormoc, on the eastern island of Leyte . AFP PHOTO/NOEL CELIS Source: AFP

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said: "We are looking at over a hundred billion pesos ($2.5 billion) of reconstruction, from livelihood, commerce, social services," as well as infrastructure and power facilities.

That figure does not include the huge amounts already spent on immediate relief for the millions of people who were injured or left without food, water or shelter.

Typhoon survivors continue to seek shelter inside the Redemptorist church, serving as an evacuation center which has been almost totally dependent on relief for nearly three weeks in Tacloban city, Leyte. (AP / Bullit Marquez) Source: AP

About 15 to 20 billion pesos will go to providing shelter with some 60,000 to 80,000 families to be re-settled in two to three years, said Singson.

This will include the people whose homes were destroyed by the storm as well as those who will have to move out of a recently-declared 40-metre) "no-build zone" from the coastline.

A picture wishing Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao victory in his next fight against Brandon Rios is displayed outside a damaged house in Tacloban after Typhoon Haiyan hit the east coast of the Philippines. AFP / Mark RALSTON Source:AFP

The zone is intended to prevent a repetition of the large number of deaths that occurred after Haiyan brought massive storm surges that flattened seaside communities.

The United Nations made an initial humanitarian appeal for $301 million in aid for the typhoon victims just days after Haiyan hit. The UN will make another appeal for more funds in December. A spokeswoman for the local UN office, Orla Fagan, told a news conference on Friday that donors had forked out $164 million so far.