Hours before the fundraising fashion event, “Filipino Para sa Filipino” at SM Aura’s Samsung Hall last Friday, we asked designers what touched them the most about “Yolanda.” Their answers were heartbreaking and personal. Some teared up.

 

Jojie Lloren: “On local TV, I saw an OFW relate how he lost his entire family, all his loved ones. I was also moved by the story of this little boy in Samar who was swept into the sea and saved by his dog.”

 

Edgar Madamba: “I found overwhelming the amount and time it would take to rebuild Tacloban because everything was wiped out. How do you rebuild the broken hearts, the crippled spirit of a whole city? The sight of bodies everywhere will haunt me.”

 

Gregg Centeno: “I was traumatized, horrified by the scope of the tragedy as the days slowly revealed the hopelessness of the situation. I was affected by the catatonic stare of the victims, the dead in body bags hurriedly buried in mass graves. I pray and hope for the regeneration of Tacloban.”

 

Goullee Gorospe: “I was speechless at the fury of Mother Nature. And we will have more strong typhoons in the future. This is a warning for our entire country, a wake-up call. I was

moved by  the story of a Japanese boy who brought his piggy bank to the Philippine embassy: that for me is hope.

 

Junjun Cambe: “I was affected by the actual storm and how TV journalist Atom Araullo was selflessly rescuing people in the floods; it was beyond the call of duty. Being a Christian  charismatic, I prayed hard daily for more unselfish people to rescue the trapped victims, the dying and the dead.”

 

Nardie Presa: “The images of children wet and in rags begging for water, for food; they shook me to the core, bothering me in my dreams.

 

Lyle Ibañez: “Perhaps I will always remember the faces of the children, their innocence and helplessness. How does it feel to lose your entire family and be the only survivor? And still as the days unfolded, the kids started to smile and laugh and play with other orphans and with their adoptive elders.

 

Sidney Perez: “The sight of hungry people I will never forget. Stripped of their dignity, grieving for their dead loved ones, they opened their palms, asking for food. There was a father in a food line carrying the body of his dead daughter, his hand gently holding her lifeless fingers so they wouldn’t sway limply. This made me cry. I live in Eastwood and there is a donation box; I have been putting money there every day for weeks now.”

 

Boyet Dysanco: “The old people battered and beaten, sickly and crippled yet still tending to their grandchildren: this really touched my heart. I contacted friends and neighbors who were actually sending stuff to their own families, I sent them food, water and meds.”

 

Gener Gozum: “The dead bodies everywhere. It was like a war zone. How does it feel to bury one’s entire family without coffins, without even a headstone?”

 

Edgar San Diego: “Dead bodies lying strewn by the road, on top of debris—you see these images from abroad but when you know it happened one hour away by plane from Manila, it hits you hard.”

 

Dexter Alazas: “Because I am from Cebu and a Visayan, I was really affected. I was touched by the aid provided to northern Cebu. We all went straight to relief centers providing aid to Samar and Leyte. When I saw foreign aid arriving, it really made me happy and hopeful, I was crying tears of joy.

 

Paul Ranier Lim: “I could not even imagine the scope of the tragedy, the loss of one’s house whether one is rich or poor.

 

Fanny Serrano: “I was crying all day when the images of the survivors unfolded on TV, Facebook, CNN and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. But I was also angry at all the government

ineptitude, their (officials’) arrogance and finger-pointing.

 

Jo Ann Bitagcol: “It opened my awareness that nothing in this life is permanent, that in a few hours everything you own and love can be lost forever.”

 

Albert Andrada: “As the days unfolded I was on a roller-coaster ride of emotion, shock, sympathy, hope and horror. What really touched me was the story of a little boy, 7, carrying a younger boy, 3, lining up for food. When asked if that was his brother, he replied, ‘No, I just saw him sitting and crying on top of the debris so I picked him up and brought him here to drink some water.’ His gesture was such a ray of hope.”

 

Rocky Gathercole: “I was shocked at the before and after photos of Tacloban, especially the shoreline; those big ships moored deep within the city made you realize how violent the storm surge was. But it was the government response that I will never forget. It was too slow.”

 

Oskar Peralta: “I just learned today that most of the remote villages of Leyte and Samar have not received a single relief good or medicine or any outside help and it has already been over three weeks! This is unbelievable and unbearable for me.”

 

Loretto Popico: “It was this nanay who was able to bring her five very young children to a C-130 plane leaving for Villamor Air Base; then she was left behind because she was an invalid. As she was crying, she  asked for two ripe mangoes as these would allow her to live two more days she said. This broke my heart.”

 

Ronaldo Arnaldo: “I have never seen such devastation in my life. May the entire country pray and help to rebuild the Visayas.”

 

Lito Perez: “The aerial footage made me gawk at the TV set. The whole city of Tacloban looked like it had been hit by an atomic bomb. I have old photos of Manila that was carpet-bombed by America: Tacloban looked the same.”

 

Barge Ramos: “The first story I saw was about the evacuation of families and how the sick and the elderly were going to wait out the storm. What was never explained to our countrymen was that the term ‘storm surge’ is like a tidal wave, a tsunami that would drown everything in its path. It broke my heart and I had to pray.”

 

Mike de la Rosa: “I cried every time I saw fathers and mothers crying because they lost their children in the storm surge.”

 

Nolie Hans: “My feelings I have expressed in my gown tonight. I was a helpless soul swept by tidal waves of sorrow and sympathy for the Yolanda victims and survivors. But when the sun came out and I saw a rainbow created by God as his promise to Noah and the world, I felt a ray of hope. So the gown is a trapeze cut like a caterpillar that transforms into a butterfly; the veil over the gown has hand-embroidered butterflies to represent the transformation of all the affected islands. Like butterflies reborn, Leyte and Samar will rise again and rebuild in time and soar beautifully like the miracle of a butterfly. My gown is my homage to our inborn resiliency.”

 

Jan Garcia: “When I saw a whole family drowned and dead, but with the parents still clutching their children in a tight embrace, this was shocking yet amazing to me. It was a  reminder of our great love for our family.”