Last Saturday, as Ondoy spread his wrath on our beloved country, Manila in particular, I was caught stranded, along with my GBF classmates in Shang! Reason: because we had to perform our oh-so-AWESOME presentation of The Legend of Chang-E for GBF and Ateneo as they celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival.
As early as 11 A.M. that day, my parents were already texting me non-stop about the typhoon and the flood along Edsa and C5. Knowing that it's "the parents," I initially thought that maybe, they were just exaggerating the news. To my surprise, at around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, they were already telling me not to go home anymore and just check-in at the nearby hotel instead. Knowing my hard-headed self, I said "yeah, bahala na.." but didn't really mean it because in my mind, I thought that it was still very early. My plan was to just hang-out in the mall, wait till the water subsides and then go home, sweet, home. But this didn't really happen!!
As it turned out, "the parents" weren't exaggerating anything. True enough, they know best. ALWAYS! ok, or maybe most of the time lang. Come 5 or 6 in the afternoon, my sisters, who were at home texted me that the water in Taft was already waist high. 10 o'clock and my friend told me not to go home unless I wanted to take a bath in "canal water." And this is where I decided not to go home! "Canal water??" Oh please!! Spare me!! Never did I dream of ever taking a bath in canal water!!
How we (me and my classmates) got home safely is another long story!! I'm just glad we're all safe now. To cut the long story short for you and me, we all had to find means for ourselves! (meaning: alam nyo na yun!). In the end, I ended up in Katipunan with some classmates at the condo of our teachers as all hotels were already booked.. hmm..
When I got home, I saw the news and boy! it was bad! just oh-so-bad!! I immediately texted some classmates the moment I woke up Sunday afternoon to check if they all got home safely. Buti nalang we were all safe.. that's good enough for me!! Then I saw calls for volunteers in various centers.. but how do I go? when it was still raining?!? and deep inside me, I was still scared na baka ako'y hindi nanaman makauwi?? when my parents were continuously texting us "don't go out anymore." I wanted to do something but.. there was that but..
When I did go out of the house, I went with my aunt to Rockwell. The weather was sunny and I guess, it was already good. Though reports of new typhoon coming our way was already loud. No matter how much I tried, the mall really failed to cheer me up!! Somehow, it just didn't appeal to me like how it would usually cheer me up any other day. For how can I? How could I? When I know that some people lost a lot, even everything to the wrath of Ondoy!! How can I? When I know that in some parts of the Metro, people remained to be helped, to be rescued, remained waddling in the muddy waters Ondoy brought to us.
Then I heard on the radio that some government officials delayed the process of bringing help to our kababayans because of some stuff.. that each help they offer has a name that comes along with it. And worst! THAT BARANGAY OFFICIALS WHO WERE RECEIVING THE DONATIONS IN SOME PLACES ARE BEING THEIR NATURAL OPPORTUNISTA SELVES AGAIN AT PINAGPIPILIAN ANG MGA RELIEF GOODS NA BINIBIGAY NG MGA TAO!! WTH?!? Real WTH?!? Bullcrap!! Hanggang ngayon ba naman, sa dami ng namantay, nasalanta, at nabiktima, talaga bang hindi pwede na ating iset aside muna ang pulitika at MAGPAKATAO NA MUNA??? Can't we just?? Even for awhile.. even just until everyone is settled once again..
The physical damage Ondoy left us is big. It's HUGE!! That cannot be denied. But I guess, more than the physical damage, the emotional damage that this brought us, to the people in Marikina and Rizal in particular is far worse than the damage we usually see now in the papers and in the news!! How the people will rise from the damage physically is easy.. because we are FILIPINOS and we have always helped each other in times of crisis.. To copy what a friend said, "bayanihan will save us." I cannot agree more. The spirit of BAYANIHAN has always helped us!! It has always been present in our society. It has changed and evolved but still, it is there. It has always been.
The bigger question now remains to be: How do we rise from the emotional damage this has brought our kababayans?? I was stranded outside last Sat. and now, everytime I look at the rain, I feel scared. I get reminded of that night still. Even when I am safe in the comforts of our home now far away from Metro Manila. The thought of new typhoons coming our way scares me. The thought of ever going out when it's raining makes me nervous na!! What more, how much worst are the feelings of those whose homes were damaged? destroyed? Of those who were left with nothing? Of those who lost relatives, family, and friends??
Have we really learned our lesson?? Perhaps we have as a person. Perhaps our experiences taught us some stuff. But ow about the others?? The others who were lucky enough to be sparred from the wraths of Typhoon Ondoy??How about the others who probably needed to experience Ondoy but didn't? The others who still didn't learn anything and still HAVE THE GUTS TO BE OPPORTUNISTA AT MAKAPAL ANG MUKHA DESPITE ALL THESE?!?
When, when Lord, will they ever learn???
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