The Bailiwick is now home to an estimated 600 people with roots in the Philippines. The archipelago of islands was hit by Typhoon Kalmaegi late last week, which has killed an estimated 188 people and caused widespread flooding and damage.
The Philippines was then hit by Typhoon Fung-wong, which made landfall at the weekend as a super typhoon with sustained winds of around 115mph.
Jojo De La Cruz Esteban, hotel manager at Fleur du Jardin, runs a Filipino facebook group in Guernsey, and said they were making efforts to get in touch with all their compatriots to see who was directly affected.
‘We are trying to get in touch with everyone here as it’s really heartbreaking seeing the families and the children experiencing such a catastrophic event,’ he said.
‘It is very worrying when you see those sort of news stories far away. We’re looking at what we are able to do as a community from Guernsey to the people who are actually affected.’
The Philippines has a population of more than 112m. people living across 7,641 islands, and Guernsey’s Filipino community comes from all across the country.
The most hard-hit area has been the central province of Cebu.
‘That’s not the area I am from but I really feel for those people,’ said Mr De La Cruz Esteban,
‘My friend from that region has been very, very worried. It was just a big relief for her when she managed to contact her family. Because there are no electrics there, she’s had to wait nearly 24 hours just for a reply and to know that they are safe.’
The community were bracing themselves for more bad news with further violent and unpredictable weather systems in the area.
‘It’s sad to be seeing these things happening right now, and it hasn’t finished yet, he said. ‘Now there is another typhoon, which is, I think, even stronger than the one that had just happened.’
‘We don’t know which area or place that it’s going to find land. So we’ll just keep our faith and pray, because that’s the only thing that we can do right now, especially for our loved ones who are so far away.’
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