Pablo Came and Went

when we got wind of the news that a strong typhoon (stronger than Sendong) was coming, everyone back home got ready for another lashing from mother nature.

 

the weather bureau has labelled it as the strongest typhoon to hit Mindanao in two decades. and with the traumatic experience of Sendong from the previous year still very much alive in people's minds, there was intensified info dissemination and LGU campaign to prepare Iliganons for a possible calamity. the power and electric company has advised for everyone to charge all devices that may be needed as it will be shutting down electricity once the storm sets in. there was an enforced mandatory evacuation for those who are in high risk zones. and almost everyone (even those not physically there) were monitoring the news channels and internet updates on the storm. because there was a sudden change in direction and speed of the typhoon, destruction was lessened. still, there were casualties in areas rattled by pablo. Purok 9A across us was again deep in water and houses in Orchids Village were submerged/flooded up to the windows. in surigao/ compostela valley, landslides happened. deaths occurred. some people's lives will be scarred. but with the typical resilience that Filipinos are known for, we can make a move forward once again.

we worried over here in manila because we could't call home in the early hours of tuesday morning, the predicted timing for pablo to enter davao area of responsibility. telephone lines were cut and the various networks were down as well. but my brother was posting updates on his plurk (via mom's so we got pacified. finally i was able to place a long distance call home and talked to mommy. in the evening, daddy called also and told us he could not contacted because he was conserving energy so he switched off his phone to open only when necessary.

now the sun's come out. the storm has passed. will need to pick up the pieces and start rebuilding homes. but most importantly, another opportunity has been given to build up lives, making it stronger than before.  life has got to be celebrated!

New Year, New Hope

it's the feast of the epiphany.

i can only offer a prayer of hope for my kababayans. Monsignor's homily hit me hard. and here i am feeling all hopeless and sad for the plight of so many here back home.

have been too distressed over what happened just weeks ago. 'twas the saddest Christmas ever in our community. i had long wanted to write about it but words just won't come. my heart was too crushed over the sorry sights in our place everywhere.

many relatives were still reeling from the floods. some sustained wounds from banging/crushing their feet trying to get out of the ceiling with the muddy waters rising a foot a minute inside their homes. their doors could not be opened due to the pressure of the raging waters outside hence they were trapped inside. a lot of the friends and neighbors we know perished this way- trapped inside their houses! an aunt died, her mother still missing until now; my mom's friend was washed up on the river but alas 5 grandchildren died,with her husband and 1 more granddaughter still missing. theirs were the grief-stricken faces that have been posted and re-posted on facebook countless times.- that of a father carrying his child, and his two sisters on the background wailing for their own dead children alongside him. some more aunts and uncles fought their way to get out of their homes (breaking glass doors/ crushing the ceiling with their hands and feet) and staying on the rooftop until the early morning hours when daybreak came and the waters have receded to waist-deep height. my own brother barely managed to help his friend's family get out of Orchids village before the waters inundated their home along with Bayug island just a few meters across it.

my kuya's family and i arrived days after what happened. but the gloom and sadness was so foreboding, it was heart-wrenching. my relatives took up camp along the roadside near their homes along with many others in the neighborhood. not many went to the camps/relocation areas. not when they have friends and relatives willing to help them recover. and yes, they never received any of the donations that were supposed to have come. the local government will not give to those not staying in the camps/relocation sites. what stupidity! these people who saw fit not to join the already over-crowded centers still deserve to receive their share. a lot of mattresses were donated but these were not given to those not in the camps. wtf?!! the people who did not go there still needed those beds, still needed food, still needed clothing. and because of that, these people have their spirits even more crushed. because a lot of them did not get the proper help from their own local government. the mayor's wife often get shouted at and rejected out of the affected areas as stories started spreading about how she would act high and mighty demanding private donations by civil groups to be centralized in the city centers.

after days of meeting with the city council on the needs of the people in the affected areas and getting frustrated over the inaction and mere lipservice, our parish priest started encouraging those who were willing to help to just go directly to the areas and do their outreach. and all the better. otherwise, the people would have waited in vain. they needed help immediately, and they did not get it. how can local government not release funds at such a crucial time as this? a calamity fund has been accorded to the city but all over the place you can hear people complaining and asking where it was. city officials, have you really been looking after your people's plight? why then is it easier for you to release funds during campaign period than during a calamity when your constituents gravely needed it?

this has been cleaned by Christmas time but alas, so few came for the Eucharistic celebration. on the early morning of Dec 25th, we went to church early but what we were told to be 6am mass became a 7am mass. what usually is teeming with chattering and joyful faces of old folks and children alike on any given Sunday was then the saddest face of Christmass i've ever seen. yes, too few came. i was doing the first reading and as i read the verses assigned to me, i felt saddened by the gloomy faces before me.

below are pics near the bridge. houses have been swept away. look at the debris and giant logs that lodged anywhere thereafter.

here are pics of Orchids Village just a few hundred meters from our place.

hills of mud like this were bulldozed from the roads in Orchid village so that it can be passable once again.

across Orchids is Bayug island, or what's left of it.

on this sight was once a hanging bridge leading to Bayug island. now it has been swept away by the waters. those who want to go the main island now rides on a small banca or raft like this.

Bagyong Pepeng is here

i woke up and it's dark. my niece told me there's brownout.

Another Rainy Weekend

typhoon egay is slow coming. i hope it doesnt build up to be very strong winds. that would be such a disaster.



just this morning though, news have reported that it's slowly intensifying. i join the whole nation in prayer that not much damage will be left in its path.

What Pleasant Surprise

The rains were pouring heavily outside while my eyes stayed glued to the TV set. I lay on the bed contemplating whether I should be doing my laundry, but alas, Food Network got the better of me. Ahh, another week’s gone by quite uneventfully save for a few close calls at the office and the previous night’s intermittent phone rings from my mom (yep, I do get regular calls from my parents still ..). The week turned up to be a bit of a drag, actually.

Well, on days like this, nothing beats a hot mug of something to sip while lazing around in bed. I finished watching My Best Friend’s Wedding (for the nth time) and fell asleep halfway through LOTR.

Then I was awakened by the sharp beeps of my phone. I turned to read my message as I felt around for the remote control. There were already a few messages in my inbox. I slowly scrolled along each message and replied to the senders. When I got to the last message, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was from my good friend Lennie saying she’s in Tagaytay. I scrambled out of bed hastily managing to toss a change of clothes into my Masferre bag (thanks to Me-anne for getting me one from Sagada). And immediately rode a jeep to meet Lennie at Olivarez Plaza. She and son Matthew were grabbing a few needed items inside the supermarket when I arrived.

It’s been over a year since I last saw Len. And how Matthew has grown since then. Upon seeing me, he was like testing the waters at first. It took several minutes for him to warm up to me again. He has been eyeing me for about 20 minutes before I heard him utter a few words in my direction. When asked his age, he answered “Four” as he flashed 4 fingers to my face.

It was already seven when we arrived at the hotel. Len immediately started preparing the meals while Matthew splashed around in the bath tub, afterwards happily changing into his Spiderman shirt.

As we proceeded to catch up on all that’s been happening in each other’s life, I realized that nothing but a good talk with your close friend can really warm the heart.

Walking down memory lane, we talked about both past and recent events that have made us stronger as a person and which have helped develop our character. We talked about people both familiar and unfamiliar, and places that we have been to. We reminisced of the old days back to our Cubao senior year all in between munches of Sinaing na Tulingan and rice for dinner and antipasto brownies, a pack of chips and gulps of softdrinks. The next thing we knew, it was already 10:30 and Len’s husband George was already texting us. We went to fetch him and his friend Gary. Back at the hotel, we got into a few more talk at the table then went to bed exhausted for the day.

Sunday brought more torrential rains as typhoon Glenda lashed out its fury outside. There was no more adventure that we could do in the downpour. So the guys slept of the whole morning while Len and I continued our catching up all through breakfast (which naturally lasted for a few more hours).

We checked out at 12:50 just after we finished Batman Returns on HBO. Lunch at Mushroomburger was at 1:30 and soon we were on our way to Tatay Ato’s home in Silang. Tatay Ato is a farmer who took George into his care when George was still doing his College fieldwork practicum organizing a farmer’s cooperative in Silang, Cavite. George proudly mentioned that Tatay Ato now has a big house as well as huge tract of land. He was able to sell a portion of his land by the highway and managed to secure another piece of land in the interior at a much lower price. Now he enjoys his days manning the store they have built on their new land and also selling a variety of ornamental plants in front of the store.

We enjoyed the crisp cold air in their land and spent the whole afternoon with Tatay Ato’s family. They treated us to a sumptuous dinner of authentic Tinolang manok, Braised Pork and Pork BBQ. It was such gastronomic delight!

Upon learning that George now pre-occupies his days off doing some gardening activities, Tatay Ato segregated a few pots of ornamentals for George to take back home. I managed to snag a couple of pots myself – a bromeliad in bloom and a money tree. Along with the plants, George also took home several pineapples and 2 bunches of banana.

Stars were slowly creeping up the twilit sky as we got ready to hit the road again. After saying thanks to Tatay Ato’s family, we went on our way. I was dropped off at the staffhouse where I’m staying as they went their merry way to Ampid, Rizal which is still a good 70 kilometers away.

By and by, typhoon notwithstanding, my Tagaytay sojourn was a marvelous weekend topper. Thank goodness for wonderful friends!

Milenyo Tidbit

Talk about the lashing we got from the recent typhoon...

I was so sad to learn of friend Glo's experience with Milenyo. All the while that I was in the comfort or should I say security of our company premises where I am staying, she was left stranded in Sorsogon on her way back to Gubat. The time that I was seething and trying to control my temper at the airport's inefficiency (delayed flight again!!), she was busy cleaning up her home and drying out everything that got wet (which was pretty much everything, actually). Fortunately, no damage was wrought on lives, just property. But still, damage is still damage. It'll take days to recover and get things back to normal again.

I was already replete from all the eating at home and at my relatives who I visited when I got her text message asking for assistance in corresponding with her problogging contacts. Lines were up and readily accessible, good that Mindanao was not affected by the typhoon. It would have been so bad also to have a wet fiesta celebration.

In The Aftermath

Typhoon Milenyo left the country’s southern Luzon region in deep quagmire. It was really all so unexpected. The papers and the TV coverage have been constantly updating us of news about the devastation wrought by this silent creep.

My roommate was already heating up the water for her bath on that ill-fated Thursday morning. At 5:30, I was awakened by the beep of my phone. My boss (Ms LV) has sent a text message that work has been cancelled for the day. I went to knock on the next room where my other colleague was also getting ready for work. I sent back a message to Ms LV that I have already cascaded her message. To which she replied that we first make sure that no deliveries are pending. Oh well, “might as well change”, they said. Vans have already queued up at the gate the night before for that day’s delivery. There were three of us at the laboratory that morning. Our carton supplier came to visit to talk about aligning GC evaluation tests for the materials they are supplying to us. Whew! We were amazed they came despite the torrential downpour. They waited out the heavy rains and left just before the second lashing came.

It was so disconcerting listening to the wind first whistle then growl outside and watching the rains pummel our walls as trees gave out and GI sheets were whipped around like weightless paper. The roads were strewn with a lot of litter and tree branches. Power went on and off until our Engineering staff finally decided to suspend the genset support. We went outside as the rains began to settle.




There's a tree that fell right in front of our lab.

No wonder we had interrupted power. The roof to our power plant was torn open a quarter of a way in and there was one rolling door slashed open. But they immediately attended to it to give us power by mid-afternoon. Power is important since our water supply also depended on it.

We began walking back to the staffhouse by 12:30 and ran almost half of the way as the rains started pouring in again. Good that we had a stock of food enough for a group of ten (yes, we are one big happy family there). But first, the staffhouse had to be cleaned up first. Water has reached ankle deep inside at the first floor. The rains whipping up against the walls upstairs (where us staff are staying) have slowly found their way down, dripping through the open banisters and stairs.

Two of us (Q of the Barbie-Q duo... peace Kwin!) busied ourselves in the kitchen with luncheon preparation while the rest of the group swept/ mopped/ and cleaned up the floors. Everyone was so hungry by the time we finished. Then we all had our fill of the meager fried dried pusit and luncheon meat and cream crab and corn soup afterwards washed with ice-cold Coke.

We were fortunate to have power inside our company compound. But since the cable lines were down, we could not even watch TV. There was no internet because the phone lines were out, too. Cellular phones were our only link outside. We heard there were many areas inundated by the floods. Later did I realize the extent of the damage outside.

I had to leave early the next day (Sep. 29, Friday) for an early flight home to Iligan as it is our fiesta there. I was saddened by what I saw along the way. There were a lot of uprooted trees as I passed the South Luzon Expressway. There were billboards toppled over. And to think that the eye of the storm was not in our area yet. I wondered what could be the plight of those hardest hit by Milenyo?



photos courtesy of Reuters and Russian Pravda News

Now, several days after the typhoon, the death toll has risen from the floods and landslides and accidents caused by being hit by falling debris or getting electrocuted. Yes, one may read more into this situation politically and ecologically or environmentally, but I think the first task at hand is getting things back in order. I know for a fact that things may not all get back to how they were before. A lot of lives have been lost. A lot of damage have been made on crops and livelihood. Several infrastructures have been ruined. It may not be too much to ask that political rivalry and differences be set aside for the meantime and let us join hands in helping out. And now, as our lives are slowly going back to normal, I ask that we pray for those of our countrymen who have been left in desolation and try to help in any small way we can.