More than our own government, CNN has extended truly invaluable help to our countrymen-in bringing attention to the areas hardest hit, in rallying global support, and in reporting a fair and accurate picture of the collective horror story that is Tacloban. Our officials, led by His Excellency BS Aquino, work hard only at downplaying the figures and the extent of the deaths and damage, so it is clear that they are more concerned with PR than actually helping the survivors who continue to suffer in my father's hometown, now a no man's land.
What else does downplaying figures achieve but deodorize the image of a president whose precious popularity ratings, already precarious, have plunged into even more pathetic and perilous levels only because the Philippines has proven that his priority is the perennial photo-op.
Government whitewash
Downplaying the data of casualties which in truth represent people who are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, and friends, not just a mere figure is a dangerous numbers game. In a disaster so unprecedented, perhaps it is better to overestimate the extent and scope of the damage than it is to water down people's expectations only to fall short in crucial and needed response.
Even here, from a communications professional's perspective, it is apparent what the leadership's priority is, and it is disgusting as much as it is condemnable. One would think that dead bodies scattered around them would be enough to bring their dead conscience back to life, but no, that is clearly not enough for a government that operates on ratings, a 'showbiz government' (as the popular Facebook page aptly calls it) through and through.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas' interview with CNN's Andrew Stevens was especially painful to watch. Who would've thought that someone from the prestigious Wharton School was so capable in being a first-rate moron? Pardon my language, but that's what he was in that interview with Stevens. "No those were different bodies." "With all due respect, those were the same." "No, those were different." Flabbergasting.
And of course, His Excellency BS was playing his favorite game (and no, it isn't his Sony Playstation) but, as ever, blame game. Never mind command responsibility, it's the Tacloban local government's fault. Do you agree with him? Research on 15(e) of Republic Act 10121.
On a personal note
For one unnerving week, we feared for our relatives, grappled with the impossibility of the situation, roused ourselves to action, and did whatever we can to look for them and find ways to take them out of 'hell on earth.'
My mother's brother and his family, his grandchildren; my paternal grandfather's sisters, 94 and 85 years old; a host of other cousins, nephews and nieces, over twenty relatives from either side of my family. After seven days, all of them are safe, save for one cousin who didn't make it, and her four-year-old son, missing and presumed dead. Also, an entire clan of my father's second and third cousins has been wiped out.
But the producers of CNN Anderson Cooper 360, all the way from New York, and as early as Saturday, have been emailing us, corresponding regularly, asking for updates. They were the first and only group proactive enough to ever ask for the addresses of our missing relatives.
Though we did not rely solely on CNN and worked to find and extract surviving relatives mostly on our own, I do not have the words for how CNN reached out to us, like they did the Borromeo family looking for their father Peter (incidentally a classmate of my father during the time he was based in Tacloban).
To CNN, Anderson Cooper, and producers of AC360 lead by Elisa, thank you so very much. You don't know how emailing and asking for information on our missing relatives gave so much comfort in the most uncertain of times, it was such a morale booster, so reassuring that when our own government was failing us, at least an esteemed organization such as yours was there to hear us out. Suffice it to say, on top of your excellent coverage, your words and listening ear gave us strength, hope, and determination.
While there are no words to describe the unspeakable anguish of our countrymen, again, there are also no words to thank you for your support for our family and the countless others suffering a fate far worse than ours.
Galvanizing global support
Anderson, never mind the politician's wife, she is biased and the entire country knows, like the other Yellow zombies marching against the parade of the living who see, breathe, and live the truth. Alas, the doomsday that is Tacloban is threatened with an apocalyptic sequel with these Yellow zombies taking the lead, but it is okay, thanks to your exposition of the truth (countering this country's predominantly Yellow media), they have been quarantined into a dark corner reserved for the mindless fanatics, extremists who will chew through concrete and steel, like rabid dogs, just to attack those who criticize their Yellow Baal, BS. What idolatry, what voodoo.
If not for your in-depth coverage, the world might not have taken notice, and the aid might not have come. If not for your in-depth coverage, our government might not have been irked to move to action, a palpable improvement six days after the truth came out, the publicity-conscious lot they are.