From Taongbato's fieldnotes: Images from 2006 Luzon GPS Fieldwork

Southern Luzon

Nov. 30, 2006 at 3 pm. CASIFMAS (Camarines Sur Institute of Fisheries and Marine Sciences) dormitory in Pasacao. Second day of their GPS fieldwork. It was still 3 pm yet it was already pitch dark outside as it was at the height of the typhoon Reming. At 9 am earlier that day the super typhoon, which had sustained winds of 190 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 225 kph, made a landfall in Virac, Catanduanes. It was expected to move north-northwest, towards Quezon Province, then to Metro Manila. It changed its course however and moved towards west, sparing Metro Manila, but placing Camarines Sur, including Pasacao, on its path.

Taongbato and his two colleagues started to feel the onslaught of the typhoon at around 12 noon, but it was not until 2 pm that they experienced the brunt of its force as it pummeled Pasacao and nearby places. At around 4 pm, there was a brief lull for about thirty minutes, when the "eye" passed over them. Shortly after, it regained its strength, stronger than before. The pressure was so strong that their ears got blocked, as if they were in a plane moments after its takeoff. They could hear the howling of the winds and the sounds of crashing trees and branches outside. This lasted until midnight.



Above is a short video posted by Taongbato in Youtube. The video was taken outside the CASIFMAS dormitory in Pasacao 2 hours before the typhoon arrived.

Above is Taongbato, pushing the table hard as the door threatened to implode as the howling winds kept on slamming it from the outside.

Nov. 30, 2006. Just minutes after Taongbato moved to the opposite side of the room, the glass walls fell down. That was a very close call. He could have been hit and hurt by glass splinters.

Dec. 1, 2006. The Day After. Glass shards all over the place. Broken branches and leaves were scattered outside.

Dec. 1, 2006. The Day After. Their vehicle was unscathed after all. Their driver could not sleep the entire night as he was worried that the vehicle got hit by flying roofs or branches, or worse, turned turtle.


Dec. 1, 2006. This man said that he and his family were inside when the house collapsed at around 10 pm the night before. They decided to stay inside rather than go out for fear that they would be hit by flying debris. Fortunately, the house was made of wood and nipa, no one got hurt.

Dec. 1, 2006. The Day After. Uprooted trees everywhere.

Dec. 01, 2006. The Day After. Electric posts were thrown all over, some houses crumbled like deck of cards. A NAPOCOR transmission tower along the national highway 'wilted' like dying plant.

Northern Luzon

Dec. 6, 2006. On their way to Pangasinan, Taongbato and his colleagues witnessed a road accident. A tricycle driver from the opposite of their lane made a sudden U-turn, and was bumped by the car ahead of them. They actually saw the driver on air as he was being thrown out a few meters away from the tricyle he was driving. They thought that was the end of him.

Dec. 6, 2006. Fortunately, the driver was still ok, he stood up but appeared to have been badly hurt.

Dec. 7, 2006. Dried fish vendor along the national highway in Pangasinan.

Dec. 10, 2006. Capas, Tarlac. A 70-meter obelisk at the Capas Concentration Camp. It was on this place that survivors of the infamous Death March during the Second World War were incarcerated.

The plaque attached to the obelisk.

Taongbato at the Capas Concentration Camp.