1 week Ago By Ronald O. Reyes
JENETTE Ruedas was six months pregnant when Pope Francis came to Tacloban City to be with survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), the strongest storm to ever make landfall in recorded history. At the time, Ruedas was a local TV reporter for ABS-CBN News. She didn’t hesitate to cover the Pope’s visit, even as he celebrated Mass under a makeshift altar near the windswept runway of Daniel Z.
Romualdez Airport in Tacloban, the ground zero of the November 8, 2013 disaster. Nearly half a million people gathered in the storm to hear him. “My deep desire to witness the Holy Father’s presence led me to accept the assignment for this special news coverage,” Ruedas recalls.
“His presence brought comfort, strength, and a renewed sense of hope to a community that had endured so much. It was a powerful reminder that God never abandons us, even in our darkest moments,” adds the 42-year-old mother of three. With the death of Pope Francis on Monday, April 21, 2025, at age 88, following a stroke and cardiac arrest, Ruedas remembers his 2015 visit to Tacloban and the nearby town of Palo as “one of the most unforgettable stories I covered while I was with ABS-CBN.
” “At the time, we were still recovering from the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda, and our spirits were fragile as we tried to rebuild our lives,” she says. Inspired by the Pope’s life and message, Ruedas now serves as a lector and is active in the social communications ministry of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Sto. Niño in Tacloban.
“I always admired his compassion for the poor and his simplicity,” she told Sunstar Philippines. Vicksay Josol, a 57-year-old choir member, also recalls being just 10 meters away from Pope Francis as he celebrated Mass. “I was at the grandstand reserved for the choir, alongside Cardinals and Bishops.
They stepped out of the vehicles right behind us. I even took pictures of him,” Josol remembers. “Personally, I join all Christendom in mourning.
Yet, I’m profoundly grateful to the Almighty for allowing me to see His Vicar up close,” he says. Josol, a classroom teacher in Palo, has been through five Popes in his lifetime, but says only Pope Francis “walked through the same roads I’ve walked.” “As a Catholic, I pray the College of Cardinals, especially the voting ones, will be guided by the Holy Spirit to elect a new Pontiff who will strengthen and unify the Church, and reflect God's will for all humanity,” he adds.
During his homily in Tacloban, Pope Francis said: “So many of you have lost everything. I do not know what to tell you. But surely He knows what to tell you! So many of you have lost members of your family.
I can only be silent; I accompany you silently, with my heart." “Many of you looked to Christ and asked: Why, Lord? To each of you the Lord responds from his heart. I have no other words to say to you.
Let us look to Christ: He is the Lord, and he understands us, for he experienced all the troubles we experience.” The Pope said he felt compelled to visit Tacloban when he first saw the disaster from Rome. “That is when I decided to come here.
I wanted to be with you. Maybe you will say I came a little late—that is true. But here I am.
” A Pope for the poor, elderly, and orphaned On June 17, 2015, Pope Francis personally inaugurated the Pope Francis Center for the Poor in Palo, Leyte, around 13 kilometers from Tacloban. The center, managed by the Korean Catholic congregation Kkottongnae (Flower Village), once housed 23 elderly and orphan survivors in 2017 alone. It remains close to the heart of Yeahan May Verano, the center’s first social worker.
When she learned of the Pope’s death, she wept silently in bed, offering a prayer in his memory. “To be honest, when I learned the Pope was sick, I felt pain too, like something heavy fell on my chest,” Verano says. “That’s how deeply I felt it,” she adds.
Verano had been following every update about the Pope's health. “A few weeks ago, I was happy to see he had been discharged. But when I heard him speak, he sounded tired.
I thought, ‘He really fought hard.’ Knowing his age, I understood his body was weakening. Then yesterday, I opened Facebook and saw the Vatican’s post—just two minutes old—that he had passed away.
I was devastated,” she says. Despite her grief, Verano finds strength in his legacy. “He left behind something people will never forget, especially the former and current residents of the center.
I saw his passion and dedication. That’s why the news hurt so much. But I’m thankful he completed Holy Week, shared his Easter message, and even visited prisoners before he passed.
His departure was peaceful,” she adds. Desiree Nayra, another storm survivor, vividly remembers the Pope’s 2015 visit. “I was one of the marshals during the Mass.
It was raining so hard, but all I could hear was his voice, and the people crying, including me,” Nayra shared on social media on April 21. “I asked God for a sign through Pope Francis. I was lost and confused at the time.
Then God gave me Drey Francis. Yes, we named our first child after the Pope,” she said. “Thank you for everything, Pope Francis.
Rest well in paradise with the Lord. Please hug our little angel up there,” she wrote. Another survivor, Kay Veloso Palisoc, posted her tribute online: “When despair was all we knew, we will never forget how you comforted us and grieved with us in our hour of great sorrow.
10/10 would camp out again in a storm under the pouring rain for you, Pope Francis. Thank you for restoring our faith.” Father Chris Arthur Militante, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Palo, reflected on the Pope’s impact in an online press conference.
“His message of mercy, compassion, and inclusion deeply resonated with our people—especially as we continue to recover not only from physical storms like Yolanda, but also from the spiritual and social challenges we face,” Militante said. “His call to go to the peripheries inspired many of our clergy and lay leaders to serve more actively in far-flung and underserved areas. Even in his passing, we feel his spirit guiding us.
We will continue to reflect on his teachings—especially his love for the poor, which aligns closely with our local mission.” (Ronald Reyes/SunStar Philippines).
