As the Philippines faces another powerful typhoon, an image from 2011 has resurfaced showing 12-year-old Janela Arcos Lelis wading through chest-deep floodwaters in Malinao, Albay while carefully holding a Philippine flag above the rising waters.
The photo, captured by photographer Frank Lurzano during Typhoon Juaning, shows the young girl following her brother Edcel’s instruction. Her brother, then a 19-year-old color officer in the Citizen’s Army Training at Malinao National High School, had been entrusted by his school to care for the flag. As he helped relatives evacuate, he tasked Janela with ensuring its safety even as their own home was being submerged.
Janela later explained the meaning behind her act. “We have a saying that the youth are the hope of our country. When the flood swept our place… this saying became true for me. I did not know that young as I am, I would be able to do something good for our country.”
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines later recognized Janela for her act, which continues to symbolize Filipino resilience and patriotism in times of disaster.
Photo by Frank Lurzano
