Mico’s Story: “At night, I still dream about what happened to us during the typhoon and I would wake up feeling afraid”

After typhoon Goni (local name Rolly) ravaged his village in Guinobatan, Albay, 11-year old Mico spends his day helping his father secure what’s left of their house and his grandmother’s.

“I help remove the mud that buried my grandmother’s house,” shares Mico. “After this, me and my father will go to our house to do the same. For now, we are still staying in the evacuation center while we clear the mud.”

Mico’s family is one of the hundreds whose houses were buried in “lahar” or volcano mud within and near Mayon Volcano’s vicinity in Albay province, south of Manila. Along with mudflow are huge rocks that destroyed everything in its path.

Harrowing Experience

“It was around 7 in the morning when the mudflow, triggered by the heavy rain, alarmed us. I carried my youngest child. Mico and his other sibling held on to their mom as we escaped from the house. The lahar came really fast. It was knee deep and it kept getting worse,” says, Eli, Mico’s father.


“I was also afraid. I thought that we won’t survive. Papa said we need to go to a higher ground so we kept running,” Mico recalls.

As soon as the family found a safer place, they waited for the flood and volcano mud to subside before heading to the evacuation center.

“At night, I still dream about what happened to us during the typhoon and I would wake up feeling afraid,” Mico admits. Casualties from their village were reported, including a 5-year old child.

The next day, they went to see their house and found it partly buried in mud.

“My school supplies, modules and other things are now gone. But I will still help Papa remove the mud so we can recover whatever we can.”

Emergency Response


Mico is one of the affected individuals interviewed by World Vision team in its ongoing assessments in the Goni-hit communities in Bicol Region. The deployed team will also visit other hard-hit areas.

World Vision aims to initially assist 10,000 families or about 50,000 individuals with emergency essentials that include hygiene kits containing toothbrushes, toothpaste, bath soaps, undergarments for children and adults, sanitary pad, malong, nail cutter and other items like mosquito nets and plastic mats.

To know more or help the current emergency response to reach more families and children like Mico, visit https://wvph.co/rollyph support.



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