The unrestrained lash and fury of the four successive typhoons in the latter part of 2004 cut a swath of death and destruction across the provinces of Aurora, Quezon and Nueva Ecija . Since mid-November 2004, flooding and landslides caused by typhoons "Unding" (November 14-21), "Violeta" (November 22-26), "Winnie" (November 28-30), and "Yoyong" (November 30-December 3) have claimed more than a thousand lives and affected approximately 3 million others, mainly on the southern part of Luzon.

The most affected areas included Infanta, General Nakar, and Real in Quezon Province, Dingalan and Baler in Aurora Province in the south and Gabaldon & San Leonardo in Nueva Ecija in the north. Kilometers of hillocks and hillside eroded to form a lethal torrent of water, mud, cut logs and boulders that rushed down to the sea, destroying almost everything in its path. The flashfloods and avalanches triggered by the unceasing rain were blamed on unscrupulous and/or illegal loggers who denuded the once-lush forests of these provinces.

According to the Philippine National Disaster Coordinating Council, aside from the 1,400 death toll and 566 missing persons, 38,358 houses were totally destroyed; 133,161 houses were damaged; and 880,000 were displaced by the floods and landslides.

With land and sea routes blocked by debris, boulders, broken logs and with deep flooding in some places leading to disaster areas, even the government had great difficulty delivering relief goods and food to affected communities that had become isolated. Pathetic was the victims' plight in coping with their emotional and physical sufferings on losing family members and in the struggle to survive.

Families that lost their houses were relocated in various evacuation centers.

As soon as the roads were cleared and became passable, St. Martin's Foundation promptly responded to appeals for assistance. A series of relief and medical missions were conducted in Infanta, General Nakar, & Real in Quezon, in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, Montalban, Rizal and Calumpit, Bulacan.

In all the mission sites that we visited, the scenery was the same--- desolation. People were on the streets, waiting for relief goods. Some would be digging what's left of their half-buried if not totally destroyed houses, while others were trying to build temporary shelters for their families.

While the physical damage was visible in the wrecked homes, destroyed crops and properties, and broken, cut logs that littered about like toothpicks, deeper wounds and pain could only be seen in the despondent gaze of the survivors, most heartbreakingly, in the searching and confused eyes of the children.

Expressing a deep concern, one of the survivors said: "Madali nang babaha dito sa amin. Nakalbo na ang bundok. Natatakot kaming maulit ang nangyari sa amin. (The mountains have been shorn. Nothing is left to protect us from flashfloods. We fear that what has happened to us will happen again)."

Grateful for the assistance given by St. Martin's Foundation, they never fail to express their appreciation: "Maraming salamat po sa inyo, napakalaking bagay po ang ginagawa ninyong pagtulong sa amin, (Thank you very much, your act of kindness means a lot to us)."

A series of relief and medical missions were conducted in Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Rizal and Bulacan.