Beyond the indescribable pain and loss.

We wept for the Filipino people when President Cory died. We wept for our people who lost a very sincere, honest leader. We wept for our people who lost a very good person, one who made us proud to be Filipino, one who always wanted us to remember to be proud we are Filipinos.

We wept again for our people after seeing so much destruction brought about by Ondoy, on the one hand, and by bad governance, on the other hand. We wept for those who lost their lives, for those who gave up their lives just to save others.

We have to mention, most especially, the heroism of a construction worker, Mr. Magallanes, who risked his life to save more than 30 people from the floods but lost his own after saving a baby and his mother from being drowned.

We wept for our people who lost their loved ones, their homes, their other precious hard-earned possessions. We wept especially for our people who lost so much because of greedy, self-serving officials whose business was to install infrastructure where these were not needed or to install infrastructure on low budget, with the bulk of the intended budget spent elsewhere for private interests!

How dare GMA request again for billions of taxpayers' money for flood control measures after last Saturday's floods! How dare this government drown out our nation's pride by immediately asking the international community for assistance even before exhausting self-reliant and existing resources and efforts to help our people!

Where are those gallant lawmakers and friends of GMA who are able to dole out easily a million for one dinner party?

How dare GMA and her Cabinet officials offer just 2 months' worth of their declared monthly salary to the victims of Ondoy! Where are those who brag that they are rich?

How dare Malacañang announce that they are serving gourmet meals to the evacuees in Malacañang when there are millions still awaiting any type of assistance, even just water or morsel, where they are, outside of Malacañang!

We are happy to note that where people were silent before about bad governance, now they are speaking out. We are happy to note how this latest massive devastation has shown our people up, close and personal how damaging, how deadly, how costly bad governance, greed and corruption can get.

Now the silent majority are not just angry but are extremely very angry. Their anger for slow, unresponsive governance is building up so high up to the skies.

Gratefully, our people are also witnessing other acts that compensate for the tears, the grief, the anger, the loss brought about by Ondoy's floods.

The Filipinos are seeing the contrast between the insincere and the sincere among those who truly want to help others vs those who are appearing to help others so they can help themselves and promote their own agenda.

Beyond the anger about the disaster that could have been averted by good, honest governance, beyond the loss, the grief and sorrow, gratefully, we are also witnessing and recognizing so much good left among so much more Filipinos.

We are witnessing so much volunteerism all over. Heroism as well. True care and comfort are being passed on wherever the Filiipinos are, whether they are in the Philippines or elsewhere throughout the world.    We will overcome and go beyond this biblical-like flood and disaster with the genuine love and care of our people for one another. This is what being a Filipino means. Our wealth is in our genuine care and love for others, so deep that even own lives are offered that others may live.

Ondoy and the floods may have inundated and drowned out communities and  properties and may have even taken precious, very precious innocent lives. Let us allow ourselves to mourn, to grieve, to be angry, to unload whatever other emotions we are experiencing now.

But let us also allow ourselves to go beyond Saturday, to go beyond Ondoy, to surface above the floods, to rise above the stink, the mud, and whatever is bad and undesirable in our leaders, in our country, within ourselves.