December 19, 2025
Negrense families rebuild with faith and courage
By Joy Rojas
In Negros Island, the story of Typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi) is not only written in floodwaters and fallen homes, but in the strength of families who refused to give up even when everything else was taken from them. Striking on November 4, the typhoon followed a series of disasters that had already tested the limits of endurance, leaving communities exhausted but still standing.
Recognizing this quiet resilience, Tzu Chi volunteers extended timely support from December 14 to 16, reaching 1,927 families across the cities of Bacolod, Bago, La Carlota, and Canlaon, with grocery vouchers, basic necessities, and financial assistance to help them take their first steps toward rebuilding.
Nine empty spaces remain
When loss reaches beyond walls and belongings, when it takes an entire family, the question becomes heavier than survival itself: How does one move forward after losing the people who made life worth returning to?
For Sarah Jane Diaz, 38, of Barangay Panubigan, Canlaon City, the flood came without warning. Believing her parents’ house to be the safest place, the family gathered there as the waters rose. Within minutes, powerful currents carrying boulders and debris erased entire households before her eyes.
“I didn’t even realize what was happening. I was carried by the water, hit by debris, and went unconscious. I didn’t know where my child went,” she recalled.
In the chaos, the family was torn apart. Nine loved ones―her parents, siblings, and husband—were swept away by the flood. Their bodies were recovered in different locations, some only after days of waiting. The youngest sibling was the last to be found.
One life was given so another could live. Sarah Jane’s husband sacrificed himself to save their 5-year-old child, lifting and securing the boy onto the roof before the current took him. “My husband died because he saved our child first,” she shared.
With no time to mourn, Sarah Jane became the one who organized, searched, and stood in place of the mother she had lost. Now carrying the weight of both parent and provider, she holds together what remains of her shattered family. Still, amid the emptiness left by nine lives, she chooses to move forward with her two children and three surviving siblings.
Grateful for the support extended to her, Sarah Jane dreams of rebuilding through honest work, even if it means starting small. For her children and siblings, she holds on to one quiet promise: to endure, to love deeply, and to live on for those the flood took away.
Clinging to life and faith
What more could a second beginning offer to those who have lost not only their homes, but the life they once knew? Typhoon Tino is a tragedy that does not end when the waters recede. It settles quietly within a person, reshaping how they see safety, hope, and the future.
Ervil Noble, 41, from Sitio Bucalan in Barangay Roberto S. Benedicto, La Carlota City, thought Typhoon Tino would end his family’s life as they knew it. As floodwaters rose rapidly, he and his three children climbed onto their roof, only to be forced into the raging current when their house collapsed. They swam toward a bamboo tree, but his 18-year-old daughter, Chervil Faith, who could not swim, was swept away, leaving him powerless as the flood carried her away from his sight.
“I couldn’t do anything. It was painful not being able to save her. I couldn’t leave the other two children with me, because they might follow, and we could all be swept away. All I could do was pray,” he painfully recalled.
Ervil and his two younger children clung to bamboo trees from 9 am until around 2 pm, waiting for the waters to subside. Once the flood eased, they made their way to an evacuation center, where Ervil immediately sought help from neighbors and volunteers to search for his missing daughter. Despite everyone’s efforts, there was still no sign of her.
He admitted that despair nearly consumed him, “I thought that if I didn’t find her before nightfall, I would resort to suicide because I am a worthless father. But the Lord did not abandon us.”
Chervil shared, “While I was up in the tree, I kept praying that the floodwaters would subside and that I wouldn’t drown. I was worried about my father and my siblings, not knowing if they had survived.”
At around 4 pm, word came from a nearby hacienda—Chervil had been found alive, clinging to a tree on the other part of the flood path. When residents from the hacienda noticed her, they helped her down, gave her food, and allowed her to rest until conditions improved. Due to impassable roads, father and daughter were only reunited later that night.
Witnessing her father’s sacrifices and the struggles her family continues to face, Chervil now holds a renewed determination. She has promised to study hard, to become a police officer one day, and to help give her family a better life. For the Noble family, faith, love, and reunion became the strength that carried them through the flood and into a hopeful tomorrow.
Carrying hope forward
This is the story of Negrenses from La Carlota and Canlaon City: families whose experiences, through different stories yet painfully familiar, surfaced in the aftermath of Typhoon Tino. Survival came with a painful cost. To live means watching everything else disappear. The storm left scars not only on the island of Negros but deep within the hearts of its people.
Through the compassionate and tireless efforts of the Tzu Chi Foundation, these families received more than relief goods and financial assistance. They received presence, dignity, and the reassurance that they had not been forgotten. For Sarah Jane and Ervil, each step forward—however small—is an act of courage, faith, and love for those they continue to live for.
In the aftermath of tragedy, rebuilding is not only about restoring what was lost. It is about healing the human spirit, holding on to hope when everything else is gone, and finding the strength to rise again—together.
An aerial view shows Barangay Roberto S. Benedicto in La Carlota City more than a month after Typhoon Tino struck the area, revealing the extent of damage left by the flooding.
A Tzu Chi volunteer embraces a resident from Canlaon City, offering quiet comfort and compassion in the aftermath of loss.
Beneficiaries from La Carlota City gathered in the early morning of December 15 to receive goods from Tzu Chi Foundation.
Tzu Chi volunteer Siu Siu (Lee-Ching Lu) poses with Edsie Malaga while she receives a grocery voucher. They stand on what was once Edsie’s home, now filled with mud and debris brought by the flood.
Residents expressed both tears and smiles as they were deeply moved by the outpouring of support they received from Tzu Chi.
The aftermath of successive calamities remains evident, with thick mud and widespread destruction still visible across the affected areas.
A resident recounts his traumatic experience, sharing the fear and loss he endured during the calamity.
Despite the hardships, residents look resilient, holding on to hope and looking forward to recovery.
Tzu Chi volunteer Susie Weng Co comforts a resident from Bago City, encouraging her to stay positive in life.
Residents bow in silent reflection and prayer during a relief distribution in Bago City. Their hearts are heavy with sorrow yet lifted by hope.
Residents of La Carlota pose with Tzu Chi volunteers as they receive grocery vouchers, grateful for the support that will help fill their tables this Christmas.
Ervil and Chervil Noble line up together to claim relief stub, seeking support after their home and belongings were completely wiped out by the flood.
Ana Marie Sacudit, 42, of Brgy. Roberto S. Benedicto, La Carlota, stands before the site where her house once stood. She is still overwhelmed by the weight of loss.
The Noble family, who were separated during the flood, came together to claim relief goods and financial assistance after their home was completely washed away.
Sarah Jane Diaz receives financial assistance and hopes to use it to start a small business or build a kitchen and comfort room for her surviving family.
Busy tables and long lines mark Day 3 of Tzu Chi’s relief operation, as volunteers and youth work tirelessly to assist every beneficiary efficiently.
Beneficiaries from Singcang Airport, Bacolod City, leave the relief distribution venue smiling broadly, carrying groceries and sacks of rice.
Beneficiaries from Singcang Airport, Bacolod City, leave the relief distribution venue smiling broadly, carrying groceries and sacks of rice.
Tzu Chi, PCCCI, and LGU volunteers pose after a tiring yet rewarding day of relief distribution in La Carlota City.
Tzu Chi volunteers together with fellow volunteers from PCCCI pose after concluding a successful relief distribution.