Let the sharing continue

A week after the storm, some of the devastated households have somehow recovered and started cleaning up the muck and mud from typhoon Ondoy. Watching the videos from virtually all the channels on TV, it looks like an exercise in futility, but one which has to be done. They sweep the mud, scoop it into a make-do container like a sawed off plastic gallon and toss it a foot away, still very much within the immediate area. Foot by foot, they have to do it, until the whole lower floor is cleared.

Many have no running water for cleaning. Some still have no drinking water. Many have no food to go by. What have become of this place we call home?

Nature has reminded us once again who is king, and there’s nothing better than devastation and natural calamities to serve as great equalizers. Rich and poor alike have fallen victims to the wrath of Ondoy. I do not personally know PBA’s Tony Chua and his longtime assistant Joenare Pedal nor Smart co-founder David T. Fernando, but my family extends our deepest condolences to their families. Like many Filipinos, we grieve for senseless losses of lives, untimely deaths, destruction of homes and properties. We also feel the grief of the families of Army Private 1st Class Venancio Ancheta who bravely saved 20 people before he himself drowned in the rampaging waters.Likewise, that of Army Cpl. Adriano Regua and CAFGU militia men J. Hernalin, E. Olaguer, F. Dequino, P. Falcon. And to the family of 18-year old Muelmer Magallanes who saved 30 others aside from his family, and risked his life to save a mother and baby before succumbing to fatigue and was swept away by the floods-you have a hero in your son.

We cannot do anything to prevent typhoons, and apparently, even the best of efforts are sometimes no match for relentless rains. We understand that floods can and will still happen, but it doesn’t mean that we should not improve our drainage systems and keep them in tip-top shape at all times. Fact is, the Philippines is always vulnerable to typhoons and prone to flooding. Ondoy was accurately foreseen and the proper signals were raised, but even our Pag-asa experts admit that they were not prepared for the amount of rainfall we had in a span of six hours. The inundation was something they could have foreseen, given the right equipment.

I understand that we only have one or two of these radars, which is clearly inadequate. Pag-asa, though manned by capable men and women who of late have been working round the clock, is sorely under-equipped, and for a tropical country at the mercy of the elements half of the year, this is unacceptable. The new radars are supposed to come by October, missing the target fatally by a few weeks.

Emergency control has to start from the grassroots, meaning the local government units. The gargantuan task of widespread daring rescue operations seem to fallen squarely on the shoulders of the PNP and the AFP whose men and women have gamely faced up to the responsibility. We salute the officers who waded in chest-deep waters, braved the raging waters to pluck out families from rooftops. The sorry lack of rubber boats was only too evident, and the question begs to be asked. For cities like Marikina for instance where the mighty Marikina River should be expected to swell in cases of torrential rains, how can the city claim to have only two rubber boats for rescue operations?

The same goes for other areas prone to flooding like Cainta. If floods were synonymous to typhoons for these areas, how can two measly inflatables serve the constituents? I saw how ropes strung across the furious waters saved the lives of many who were stranded in the roads amidst rapidly rising floodwaters. Actually, at the Barangay level, this is effective first aid for people stranded in the wayside, and it should be adopted as basic standard rescue equipment. I wonder if we even have any form of government-issued rescue equipment at this level.

By now, hundreds of relief centers have sprung up, and thousands of volunteers have shown up at these centers. My own kids have volunteered their time and efforts as well, and it makes my heart swell with pride at their sense of sharing and compassion. Many small groups have organized themselves for relief efforts. Our small badminton group at Valle Verde Country Club went on a modest text brigade to raise funds and goods, and we thank those who have supported this collective effort. Many of those we texted were already in the midst of their own relief operations, way ahead of us. No matter-it’s the same cause we’re all espousing. Thanks to Jojo, Monette, Dodong & Terry, Edwin, Greg, Anali, Beth, Liz, Chabeng, Ernest & Edwina and to others who have worked on their own relief projects.

My daughter tells me there is so much food and old clothes in the relief centers she went to. I don’t really know what is “so much” in the context of the devastation we are going through at the NCR. Is it enough for the families of Marikina, Cainta, Muntinglupa, Antipolo and Quezon City? I really doubt it but then again we may not be thinking of their other needs which are just as important. There are so much old clothes, but few thought of giving clean unused inexpensive underwear which a lot of the young people are asking for. The flood victims have no clean towels, bath soap or detergent to wash their muddied clothes and shoes or even their floors, tables and chairs, cabinets and walls. I can imagine toothbrushes and toothpaste would be so welcome too. Most of these families, in wading through raging waters, had their shoes or slippers washed off their feet, so inexpensive rubber slippers would be welcome as well.

Towels and blankets would be so welcome, especially for people who stay indefinitely in evacuation centers. They are also short on medicines as well. For people who have been exposed to the cold wind, wet and shivering up in the roof, or submerged in chest -deep waters for hours on end, cold and cough medicines would be so welcome. Children and old folks are the vulnerable ones, so keep this in mind when donating medicines.

And lastly, clean drinking water is also much needed. It’s ironic that they have water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink, but this is what’s happening in the evacuation centers. Bottled water is so easy to dispense, and believe me, it’s so welcome.

Other less basic things are coffee, noodles and canned goods. An old lady I watched on the news lamented that she had not eaten for two days and stressed that she had not had coffee for that long too. For most old folks, coffee is already a way of life for them and not having a cup for one day smacks of deprivation to the highest degree. I don’t know how practical it is to have noodles when you don’t have the facilities to boil water, or have bowls to eat them from, but for those who have gone back to their ruined homes, these would be welcome and practical. Canned goods are much more practical because they can even be eaten from the can.

Relief operations continue as we roll off the press. Please keep them coming.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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