Time Out with 7.2
Call it 7.2. Where were you at 8:12 am on October 15, 2013?
Isn’t it ironic that typhoons are baptized with names even before they can hit us, while earthquakes are tagged with a number (this one was 7.2) after it strikes? It comes like a thief in the night, catching everyone offguard and flatfooted. Not even the best defender has a breath of chance to stop it. When the dust clears, we are all stunned to discover the damage it has wrought upon our neighbors, friends and relatives. Lives are lost, buildings (and age old churches) have crumbled, roads are cracked and bridges are cut into two (or more). 7.2 ra? Funny how a single digit could do so much. I could never figure out how someone named 7.2 could do so much more than a “Ruping†or “Sendong.†This was definitely no Lucky 7.
But life goes on and we are both thankful and sad. It’s a time for healing, unity and prayer. Unity for Bohol and all the areas stuck hard by 7.2. In a chat with my Bohol-based brother-in-law, he said that while the people are unhurt, they remain stunned and have difficulty making the switch to move on. How can you when aftershocks still prevail, with over a thousand recorded since 7.2? Some are even recorded as new earthquakes and not just aftershocks that leave a bitter after taste. Now that electricity has been restored to most areas (hopefully 100% by now), food, water and medicine are top priority on the list. Most continue to stay away from their homes in fear of another 7.2, and prefer to stay by the roadside, on their farms, the hills or the town plaza/centro. Fortunately, aid is now being delivered to most, if not all towns that were hit hardest: Sagbayan, Maribojoc, Loon, Carmen, Antequera, Catigbian, Calape, Tubigon, Clarin, Inabanga, and more. Note that we still haven’t seen or heard about what has happened to other parts of Bohol like Danao, Candijay, Talibon, Valencia, Jagna and Ubay. Thanks to social media and the quick moves of the media, we have now been given a big picture look at both the destruction wrought and the impact it has made on the lives of Boholanos.
We pray for those souls of those who perished, for the quick healing of those who were hurt, for the quick psychological recovery of all, and that this bring out the generosity in all of us.
As we look back, 7.2 should be an occasion for us to take a pause; a time out from our daily lives to reflect on deeper, more important concerns. Our worldly concerns should take a back seat and we ought to set our feet back on the ground, the very ground that 7.2 struck. For those of us in the sports world, it is now clearer that sports is “nothing†compared to life. It sets us down and reminds us that there are far more important things in life than all the trophies, medals, awards, fame and fortune that one can get in sports. When 7.2 struck, everything took a back seat: our work, leisure, our material possessions. It was as if someone up there told us to stop in the middle of everything, for a purpose. We were all reminded that what we get on earth is just that: earthly and material. We can’t take all our riches with us when we die. Our trophies will end up rusting and discolored on our wall or shelves of fame, and there’s no room for this when we all die. Can we take these with us when we perish? More importantly, we should realize that sports, and everything that comes with it (awards included), is there primarily to make us better people. To make us persons; persons with character. A full time-out has been called by our big Coach for us to review why we’re into sports.
7.2. You’re a now famous number, aren’t you? From you have come a death toll of close to 200 and counting, age old churches torn down, roads ripped, buildings crushed and people homeless. But we’ll learn, get up and march on forward. We will help everyone recover, and chart a fresh direction for our lives.
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Time-out: Happy birthday to my October birthday sisters: Anneli Christensen, Joy Navarro and Naomi Poca! >>> You can reach me at
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