Arnell: Furious like Ondoy

Haven’t you noticed how people have been kinder to each other since the Ondoy flooding? No, I’m not even talking about the generous souls who have donated and still continue donating to the flood victims. Neither am I referring to the tireless volunteers who contribute their time to repack relief goods.

What I’ve observed lately is the changed attitude of most Filipinos — for the better. I see this, for instance, in how we now give way to each other when motorists have to pass intersections without traffic lights. (The public utility vehicle drivers are something else — they’re a hopeless case.) Generally, most of the people are now more considerate of each other — maybe because we know that we are a nation that is starting to rebuild and pick up the pieces and we’ve become sensitive to the needs of others. Or maybe because we are just thankful that some of us have been spared and in gratitude, we’ve become kinder and more patient toward our fellowmen.

Unfortunately, human behavior still varies in the face of tragedy. There are the looters and the profiteers. I say we hang them when caught.

Then, there’s the indifferent. And the arrogant.

Arnell Ignacio would like to share such horror story that he experienced in the hands of the administrative head and the president of the homeowners association of the Greenhills condominium where he lives. I will no longer mention the name of the condo for the sake of the other residents who have nothing to do with the arrogant behavior of the officers who run their place. Those who will read this may just start spitting at their building out of disgust and I don’t want that to happen. (Startalk will most likely feature the story this afternoon and our video editors will probably identify the condo and the people involved.)

And so this was what happened to Arnell:

Shortly after making an appeal to the public for donations via Cool Center last Saturday, people started sending him relief goods that he still continues to distribute to flood victims badly affected in the Del Monte area of Quezon City.

 Early this week, Arnold Clavio who also accepts donations that he normally turns over to the Kapuso Foundation shared with Arnell 1,000 bags of relief goods (rice and grocery items) that came from Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas (in due fairness to them, their names weren’t even on the bag and don’t really want it known that the help came from them).

 Monday, between 3 and 4 p.m., the relief goods were unloaded in front of Arnell’s condo building. Since some of the more charitable residents of that condo installed a donation box in one side of the structure, Arnell decided to put the relief goods there, except that with 1,000 bags, he needed more space. He asked permission from the laundry shop at the ground floor to park the relief goods temporarily in front of the establishment and the kind owner agreed because these were intended for flood victims after all.

 When the female admin head of the building, however, saw that the piles and piles of bags had encroached into the entrance of the building, she blew her top and knocked at Arnell’s unit. Since Arnell wasn’t home, she berated his help of many years.

 Those bags can’t stay there, according to the admin head. The façade of the building will get ruined — and so on and so forth. The piles of bags looked unsightly — they look like trash. The help then asked permission to bring the relief goods to their unit upstairs. The president of the homeowners association, however, wouldn’t hear of it because transporting those bags would create a mess and may damage the surroundings. Look at how lovely this building is — he claimed. (I have no way of judging — I haven’t been inside.)

 And so Arnell is in the middle of a tiff (the name of the building is close to that) with his condo’s admin head and homeowner association president — all because of aesthetics.

 Now that parts of Marikina and Cainta are still submerged in water and people are suffering, can you believe such arrogant behavior from those people?

* * *

 For some bit of good news, my Boston-based cousin, Lilibeth Aristorenas, who is aunt to Krista Ranillo, told me about the fund-raising campaign they conducted in Massachusetts for the victims of Ondoy.

 Over the weekend, they sold Filipino food specialties like callos, tinutungang manok (a Bicol dish with smoke-infused coconut milk) and nilupak (a dessert made of either boiled cassava or unripe saba pounded with freshly grated coconut milk, sugar and butter).

 Their fund drive was a hit because they were able to raise $5,100 from food sales and cash contributions. Aside from the money, they were also able to collect 32 boxes of goods — all of which will be shipped to the Philippines.

 Most of the cash proceeds will be used to buy uniforms for the pupils of North Fairview Public Elementary School. Majority of the enrollees in that school were badly affected — having lived in shanties along the creek and their homes just disappeared with the Ondoy flooding. They now live with their families in evacuation centers.

 I’ve always been proud of the Filipinos in Massachusetts. They were also the same people who welcomed Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Sharon Cuneta and even KC Concepcion when they lived in Boston from 1997 to 98. Since there are only about 10,000 Filipinos scattered all over that state, they have learned to support each other.

 Pinoy parents there continue to teach their kids the Filipino values, customs and traditions. With this recent fund-raising campaign for the Ondoy flood victims, they have set a good example to their children by exposing them to true bayanihan spirit.