Running scared

With over 900 aftershocks since Monday’s tremor, it’s kind of hard to just forget what transpired last February 6 including the instant running event that obviously did not get any permit to be held.

There were no marshals, no water stations, and no finish line as people panicked due to the spread of wrong information.

While it is now difficult to trace who might have started the whole frenzy, it was an incident that taught us many lessons particularly on how to act during calamities or crisis situations.

It is a good thing that many Cebuanos are fit from joining all those running events every weekend as we did not receive reports of people dying from the sudden physical activity.

As citizens, we must also learn to listen carefully to the announcements before reacting.

Many probably heard the advisory from Phivolcs that there was a tsunami alert, but did not anymore bother to check what came after it especially the part that there was no need to evacuate.

It is normal for living things to seek life preservation. Unfortunately, the flow of information last Monday was improperly managed leading to chaos and widespread panic.

While we have been told that the aftershocks can be felt for a few more days, I sincerely hope that we have learned our lesson on how to react in times of disaster. If we use our heads, we don’t only get to save our energy and other resources, but also our lives.

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As a country that is often hit by disasters, there are a few skills that we should know.

Learning these skills will not only help us survive, but can maybe help us win medals in international competitions.

One of the skills is swimming. With the floods that we experience, it would definitely be helpful to know how to swim.

It would also help to have the stamina of a runner. I need not expound on that after what happened last Monday.

Another important skill that we people living in the islands should know is rowing. Not the political kind of rowing that fill up much of our newspapers come election time, but rowing using paddles or oars.

Last year, the Philippine dragon boat team was a huge success. This means that if we learn how to do this properly, we can have world-class rowers.

Learning martial arts has also been deemed important by many, who feel safer that they have the skills to defend themselves although I espouse on best form of self defense, which is avoiding trouble.

Maybe you can add some of these sports to your plans for the school break for your children.

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MILESTONES: Belated happy birthday greetings to Cebu Country Club president Ramontito Garcia, Archt. Phoebe Espinosa-Cale, Atty. Joseph Gonzales, Analee Arnoco, and Michael Bronce, who turned a year older last Monday.

The same goes to those who turned a year older yesterday like my cousin Mary Ann Quiñones-Unto, The Freeman entertainment editor and Tao sister Debbie Duraliza, Gail Manuel, Ma. Lourdes del Prado-Torrefranca, Ping Zabala-Belacho, Councilor Joey Daluz, and twin sisters Katherine and Kristine Dante.

Today’s greetings go to Elaine Montecillo, Cathy Bongo-Gatchalian, Beth Teves, Aline Sande-Fernandez, and to President Nonoy Aquino.

More power to all of you! - THE FREEMAN