Thank God, super typhoon "Paeng" only skirted the country and moved away without doing a landfall the other day. With a gustiness of up to 240 kph it could have wrought havoc in its path and probably caused the loss of countless lives.
Actually, this is the second super typhoon that threatened the country this year. The first was super typhoon "Florita" which howled past the archipelago last July. Like "Paeng," it also spared the Philippines from destruction. What would have happened if any of these super howlers made a repeat performance in the areas devastated by Yolanda?
That typhoon snuffed out the lives of more than 6000 people many of whom are still unaccounted for. Property damage amounted to billions of pesos and even these day rehabilitation and reconstruction work are still going on. Property destruction however, is not as painful as destructions of lives and livelihood. Buildings like homes, classrooms, and public structures can be replaced, given assistance from the government and aid agencies. But families who lost parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren and others will never be the same. And the suffering of those left behind cannot be assuaged with words of sympathy nor by offers of help. Losing a loved one is a loss that devastates a person forever. As long as the latter is alive that loss will haunt him in his waking hours or even in his resting moments.
Two super typhoons! Will there be more? If more are coming, will they strike us as Yolanda did? Our country happens to be where storms frequent. If those raging winds are of regular vintage we can take them as we did on many occasions in the past. But spawned by climate change, these natural calamities have been as ruthless as untamed tigers. And we are simply helpless. Whom shall we call for help? We first think of course of the current leadership. We have an organized government headed by a klatch of politicians who are supposed to protect the people from calamities, manmade or natural. But these so-called leaders are so preoccupied with power struggles they have no time to serve the people. In fact, even the crying needs of the victims of Yolanda in Tacloban, Cebu and other places have not been adequately responded to.
We next think of the super rich Filipinos who have accumulated billions of pesos out of their business ventures. But you can count only with your fingers those who have the heart to bleed for the poor. The rest are busy spending every minute of the day fattening their bank accounts.
Who then shall be the source of our salvations? As always, when we seem to find no other refuge, we call on God.
We Filipinos are God conscious people. We believe in the existence of a Supreme Being. Even before Christianity came to our shores we were already aware of a divine being whom our forefathers called Aba or father. Christian faith teaches us that Aba or God the Father is a loving, compassionate, and caring God. It teaches us also about Jesus who became man, lived with us, and showed us the way to eternal life. Above all, it encourages us to entrust our whole being to God for our safety and protection. Let's reflect on Psalm 121 which says:
The Lord is your guardian; the Lord is your shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will guard you from evil; he will protect your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever.
God's protection, however, can be enjoyed only if we have faith in him. If you have faith, says Jesus, nothing is impossible. If we have faith, therefore, we will not be helpless in the face of calamities climate change will bring about.
If "Paeng" and "Florita" bypassed us, why can't other super typhoon do the same? With God's help of course.