milenyo. frank. and now, ondoy.
typhoon ondoy brought many "firsts", maybe not only for me but for a handful of people as well. it was a first time for me and my family to be separated in a time like this. kris and i are still in the dorm, although thankfully we are safer and dry here. kuhn is in the condo of her classmate since friday night, and she is currently waiting for the water to subside so she could get here. ate kim is safe and sound in our house which did not suffer from loss of water and electricity, and thankfully, the rising water. and i just found out this morning that mama is not in our house right now, she went back to her office first thing in the morning to attend to her officemates who got stranded there. another first for me and my sister, which i do not want to be repeated ever again, is braving the floody waters of p.noval. it was crazy, really, that yesterday we had to walk in the flood because we got stucked at the computer shop next to our dorm. and this morning, we had to walk a little farther, soaked in flood water again, to get to mini stop and buy food.
a lot of firsts also happened to other people which i happened to have heard about. a few blockmates of mine spent the night at the Tan Yan Kee building because they were trapped by the flood outside. a handful of thomasians, including boys, spent the night in our dorm because they were stuck at the resto downstairs yesterday with nowhere to go to. i also learned that so many people living in marikina, cainta and pasig had to spend the night on their roofs ;(.
it is really depressing to know that rescue was slow, the people's representatives have seemed to have taken their time off and the NDCC only has 13 (read 13) rubber boats for rescue deployment. if only they have funded rescue operations more that new york dinners.
what is good about dark times like this is that you get to witness the shower of concern, volunteerism and love of other private individuals for people mostly affected by the typhoon. the fm radio station jam 88.3 has been so kind in sharing and devoting their air-time for public service. the fm was the new am, especially for people who relied on their cellphone's radio for news. also, through the help of other concerned individuals who tirelessly informed on-air about the situation in the different parts of the metro, jam 88.3 was able to relay the information the greater majority needs. i now look up to gang badoy of rockEd, and i think it would be a blast knowing such a devoted individual. lambert and steph of jam were also genuinely kind in attending to the callers who were airing their concern. now who says that the media is self-centered because it only broadcasts for its own benefit? last night, jam 88.3 rarely aired commercials to answer more calls.
i cannot help but recall a line from the latest harry potter movie:
"in times like these, dark times, they can bring people together or they can tear them apart". it is safe to assume that the filipino people has once more united to aid and contribute in helping our fellow filipinos who are in dire need. we are so resourceful to make use of technology in order to broadcast the needs of people in danger. i love our people it makes me want to cry. it is just so sad that we had to go through this mess for us to unite and show our concern for others. we cannot blame anyone because i do not think that that would help in surpassing this time. now, if only we start caring more for mother nature, others and ourselves and less about our differences, maybe we will realize that, rain or shine, we have each other's back.