Keep a special place in your hearts for the lives lost, unaccounted or not, during the onslaught of typhoon Yolanda, President Marcos said.
Marcos made the statement on the 10th year commemoration of Yolanda on Wednesday, Nov. 8, stressing that there were more lives lost than what was recorded.
"Ten years have gone by and yet the memory of this tragedy remains indelible in our hearts and in our thoughts. The devastation we suffered included over six thousand lives lost, over twenty-eight thousand injured, over a thousand missing, and over three million families affected," Marcos said as he spoke before the people of Tacloban and foreign envoys in attendance.
The President believes there were many more deaths that remain undocumented, urging the people to "keep a special place in our hearts" for them.
"And to this day, we still do not know the true scope of our loss because we grieve and we mourn those of our dead," Marcos said.
"But we must always keep a special place in our hearts for those who we lost, who are uncounted, who are unrecorded so that up to now we say 6,000 casualties, we do not know that for sure. We are certain that there were more but for whatever reason their deaths have not been recorded," he added.
He encouraged the citizenry to always remember them and pray for them.
"So, even if that is the case, let them not be unremembered. So when we grieve and when we mourn for our dead, keep a special place in your heart for those who have not been known to have gone but we know in our hearts, we know the loss that we feel. Let us always pray for them," he said.
The Chief Executive also enjoined the people of Tacloban to celebrate the "unparalleled spirit of the Waray and of the Filipino" and take pride "in the fact that we triumphed over this calamity through our innate bayanihan, which inspired people all over the world."
'You stayed with us'
Marcos also recognized the efforts of local and international non-government organizations (NGOs) that helped in the recovery of Tacloban City.
He recalled that NGOs and private companies were among the first responders after the tragedy, along with government agencies who extended help to survivors.
“It is impossible to overstate how important it is to us what you did for us after Yolanda and in the years subsequent to Yolanda where you never left us,” the President said.
“You stayed with us and stayed with us for years until you could see that we had recovered. And for that, we owe you a debt of gratitude that we will never be able to repay,” he added.
Marcos further said the private sector complemented the programs of the government by implementing their own initiatives, including cash-for-work programs and other interventions.
“The aid that came from all directions, the volunteerism, the heroism that overflowed in the affected areas, specifically in the rehabilitation of Tacloban,” he said.
“Indeed, what we saw back then was the spirit of bayanihan in its truest form — moving without prompting, without hindrance, and without ceasing,” he added.
Marcos joined the surviving families of the victims of super typhoon Yolanda to commemorate its 10th year anniversary which started with a mass.