While I was watching the CNN weather report on November 3 in Paris, they warned of a super typhoon of more than 300 kph. They said it’s 96 hours away but it’s certainly a concern and something to watch out for. They showed the expected typhoon path and it’s smacked right in the middle of our country including Metro Manila.
I counted with my fingers, oh eksakton’g uwi namin. We were scheduled to fly to Manila on November 7, Thursday. That’s why I was so worried that the flight would either be delayed, cancelled, or bumpy. There was a weather disturbance in Europe.
Luckily, we had smooth flights all the way because Typhoon Haiyan pala was coming the next day pa.
We didn’t feel a thing on November 8 except when the typhoon was leaving and on its last landfall. It became windy and I heard howling winds.
None of us imagined what happened next. Mother nature unleashed its tremendous fury on several islands and flattened-out communities, destroying lives, properties, and hope. Hope for those who lost most of their family members, hope for those who lost everything.
Every time we got caught in heavy traffic under the Ayala Ave. tunnel, I couldn’t help but be paranoid. Paano kung meron palang tsunami or baha na rumaragasa, what would I do? Nalunod na agad ako.
We, Filipinos, have been busy trying to mend our lives. Di ba parang kailan lang tayo nalubog uli, binagyo ng ilang beses, nag-landslide. Na-scam nung tumakbo sa Malaysia, binagyo ulit, na-Napoles, tapos umeksena naman yung gyera ni Misuari, tapos bumagyo uli, tapos lumindol naman ng kalakas-lakas, hindi pa tayo tapos mag-hakot ng ating mga damit sa aparador at magbalot ng relief, eto namang grabeng bagyo. Natabunan nga yung mga kaso ng masasamang politico, nawala sa kanila ang focus ng tao.
According to CNN report, 11.5 million people are affected and needing help.
This epic responsibility now rests on the government’s shoulders, and ours too.
Some of our employees gave some cash. Many are excited to help pack relief goods. The Savemore employees didn’t want to accept the P500 tip I was giving to them, idag-dag ko na lang daw para sa Yolanda. They asked me kasi if I was buying for Tacloban. I also bought from them after Ondoy, kaya medyo sanay na sila. I am sure, there were also lots of people who were doing the same thing.
We’re lucky Metro Manila was spared. I couldn’t imagine what could have been. Lipad lahat ng mga tinda naming kotse. And I don’t think our house would be able to withstand such fury. We have more windows than walls kaya baka dapa siguro wasak ang bahay namin.
The building code must be reviewed to make sure new structures could take hurricane-like category 5 winds and instant flooding. Sabi, in the future, there would even be 400 kph winds due to the effects of global warming. That’s really scary.
We’re all busy buying relief and packing grocery bags to send to our suffering countrymen. How do we sustain feeding millions of Filipinos? Give a bag today and tomorrow they need more. What happened was carnage. Thousands of people were left lying and strewn on the streets and kawawa rin yung mga naiwan. Nakakaiyak talaga.
The good thing is, all of us have taken it upon ourselves to help in whatever little way we can. Helping has become a national involvement. Actually, we don’t have any choice but to help ourselves. Otherwise, our country would fall into ruins. Dadami lalo ang naghihirap, baka magka-gulo pa.
There are some people who feel they should just keep their money for themselves, rather than donating to others in need. That’s okay too. Give willingly. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t feel like giving. It’s completely voluntary. If you cannot give cash, just volunteer in whatever you can, if not, just offer prayers and good wishes for the victims.
