“The contributors you will get to know here all responded to our team’s call on social media to submit pieces for a visual and literary anthology on Haiyan/ Yolanda, proceeds of which will go to community reconstruction efforts.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — A compilation of essays, poems and photographs on Typhoon Yolanda was published in a book titled, Surges. Proceeds of its sale will go to the rehabilitation efforts for the survivors of the typhoon.
“The contributors you will get to know here all responded to our team’s call on social media to submit pieces for a visual and literary anthology on Haiyan/ Yolanda, proceeds of which will go to community reconstruction efforts,” Joel Garduce, publisher of Surges, said in the book’s acknowledgment page.
He added that the contributors are poets, writers, bloggers, visual artists, photographers, activists, people working for faith-based causes, and even Yolanda survivors themselves who “promptly and voluntarily shared their God-given talents to make this anthology on Yolanda possible.”
Surges is a 100-page anthology that contains 53 articles from 49 writers, six artworks from four artists and photos from 25 photographers and media groups.
Among the poets, writers and photographers whose works were included in the book are: Mark Angeles, Rustum Casia, Kislap Alitaptap, Marra Lanot, Tonyo Cruz, Sonny Fernandez, Francisco Alarcon, Joi Barrios-Leblanc, Raymund Villanueva, Prof. Jose Maria Sison and national artist for literature Bienvenido Lumbera.
Bulatlat.com reporter Pom Cahilog-Villanueva’s On the Fringes entry with the title “They are people with stories to tell” was among the published articles.
Architect and urban planner Jun Palafox, one of the speakers during the launch of Surges, said he visited Tacloban City on his own initiative a couple of weeks after the typhoon hit the country. In his visit, he said, he “felt the pain, the loss and the destruction” that the typhoon left on the people.
Palafox urged the government to be transparent in its rehabilitation efforts. Corruption, he added, would only “doubly victimize” the people who were affected by the typhoon. He called on the people to be vigilant on how the money is being spent.
For orders and updates on the book, you may contact the publishers via their Facebook page. 
