The Pinoy will rise

Typhoon Yolanda was the strongest storm to hit our country; in fact, it was the strongest storm ever recorded to have made landfall.

But far stronger than Yolanda’s winds is the spirit of the Filipino people, and more overwhelming than the surge of water that flattened coastal communities and crashed into cities and towns in a wide swath is the support the people of the world have shown and continue to show us. From planes and ships to water treatment plants and jerry cans, from energy biscuits and medicine to tents and chainsaws, and millions upon millions in hard currency to be used in relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction, the international community has come to stand by us in our time of devastation, and to help us get back up on our feet.

Aside from governments, a lot of the aid has come from private citizen initiatives. German television stations have been conducting fundraising drives, and up until last week donations were topping about a million euros a day. Companies matched their employees’ donations dollar for dollar and euro for euro. Kids in the US sold cookies, and Indonesian household workers in Hong Kong joined fundraising drives started up by Pinoys. The NBA organization as well as its players and coaches have come to the aid of our basketball crazy nation, so hey, I’m now rooting for Pau Gasol’s LA Lakers and Erik Spoelstra’s Miami Heat.

This outpouring of support gives new meaning to the term a world without borders. Not all nations and not all peoples see the world this way, but that is not our concern. We embrace the comity and the solidarity that the world offers us, and together we will rise.

But we must also pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, and Pinoys here and abroad have not been remiss. Even as there were those still inclined to throw brickbats, to complain endlessly, to spread false rumors by text or email or posts, their numbers are dwarfed by all those who have given their time, resources, energies, creativity and ingenuity to help their kababayans in need. Volunteers thronged to repacking centers after office hours, during lunch breaks and on weekends to do their share – which is a good thing because relief goods flowed in like the storm surge, turning offices, schools and even homes into instant warehouses.

Here at The STAR, I literally could not find my way out of the office one Saturday evening as mountains of rice, canned goods, mats and blankets, slippers, medicine and other goods took over every available space and repacking activities peaked in preparation for the relief mission to Bantayan in Cebu, Tanauan in Leyte and Basey in Samar week before last. It was hard work, and the distribution mission was even harder work as the team – including STARweek’s Alpha Tolentino – struggled to get to their destinations and there faced difficult conditions. But no one complained or whined; in fact, as only the Pinoy can, it was viewed as an enriching experience. Again and again, what we heard was, “Pagod, pero masaya!” and “Nawala ang pagod at hirap pag nakita mo yung mga tao.”

Without a doubt, we will rise up from the devastation.