Bayanihan spirit in the face of calamity

Give us time to grasp some air. The past week has been among the most difficult for us in Luzon. It’s been two years, and Pedring ’s wrath came just in time to remind us of the horror we experienced during Ondoy.

Television news did a flashback of the images of Ondoy: People stranded on their roofs; cars atop each other in Marikina because of the flash flood; and people and homes awashed under the Marikina River. Images and memories that were too tragic to forget.

Doing relief work for Sagip Kapamilya has had exposed me to numerous calamity stories in and outside Metro Manila, such as the flash flood in Davao or the flooding in Maguindanao.

More recently, we covered the evacuation of residents in Isla Puting Bato, a breakwater community in Manila, and the submersion of Bulacan this week, both due to Pedring.

Conducting soup kitchens and doing relief efforts are a regular thing for Sagip Kapamilya. We never run out of tragedies, from fire to flash floods, but the stories — how people deal with calamities — are not the same.

Last July in Davao, victims of the flash flood warmly greeted our arrival, despite being still covered with mud. Our presence alone seemed to have brought a certain joy to the community. Laughter filled the air, as they took photographs of us with their cellphone cameras, or at least by those who managed to save them. “Such is life. Life must go on,” they quipped.

Maricar Reyes and Serena Dalrymple help out in Sagip Kapamilya relief work

In a Muslim community in Cotabato, we distributed relief goods on board the “Chuck Norris” boat — a military boat with a propeller — as this was the only way of reaching the inhabitants; it sliced through the water hyacinths that caused the flooding. With no sight of land, the residents came to us in their bancas, calmly taking turns, passing relief goods to those who were not within our reach. There was an air of genuine gratefulness over the help that came their way.

The evacuation site in P. Guevarra in Manila was filled approximately with 5,000 evacuees, mostly children. There was nothing out of the ordinary for the children who treated the cramped gym like one big playground: One child was busy doing back bends, and in his small space, a boy amused himself by playing toss coin. He did not want to go home because of the “tsunami-like” waves in Manila Bay that consumed a number of houses standing by the breakwater. But he didn’t sound concerned that they too might lose their homes. “We’re OK,” said the boy.

When it was time for the soup kitchen, some of the children and their parents were becoming uncooperative, cutting the line to get their share.

“The victims here are different,” said Allan Zulueta, our shooter for our Lingkod Kapamilya segment in TV Patrol. I could only explain it as the “survival of the fittest.”

Pedring also ravaged a vast part of Central Luzon, including Bulacan. It was scorching hot, but most of Hagonoy was submerged in water. Pedring had left, but the aftermath of the typhoon was felt two days after the downpour. Waters coming from Aurora and Nueva Ecija spilled over to Bulacan, a catch basin. Authorities warned the residents to evacuate because of the release of water from the Angat and Binga dams, but they remained in their houses. Nobody expected the gravity of the flood. The last time Bulacan experienced torrential floods was in 1978. Compared to the other evacuees, people here were more desperate because rescue was progressing pitifully. Access was poor. There were not enough boats to shuttle people stranded in neck-high waters. Evacuation centers were also flooded, and so a number of families opted to remain in their houses. A family even slept inside the pedicab.

We had initially planned to distribute relief goods in a school, but the residents were all scattered along the road, waiting for relief. The clothes that they wore were soaking wet. But patiently, they formed lines to receive relief goods. It wasn’t enough. But I didn’t hear anyone cussing us for it. Most of the residents that we were able to reach were more concerned for the others in the inner parts of Bulacan.

On all occasions, I have witnessed the resilience of the Filipinos. Having seen how we have moved on, and moved together after Ondoy, Pedring’s fury will come to pass, and will make the Filipinos stronger. The bayanihan spirit lives...

(Sagip Kapamilya is accepting donations for victims of Pedring. You may send your donations to Sagip Kapamilya warehouse along Sgt. Esguerra St. in Quezon City. E-mail me at [email protected] or follow me on Twitter @bernadette_ABS.)