It has almost been a month now when a calamity struck my beloved country; almost 710 casualties and billions of properties has been ravaged, studies says that the last time this kind of tragedy happened it was like 4 decades ago and this one is worse.
September 26' 09
9:27am
It was a rainy Saturday morning after my usual work when a persistent taxi driver kept on yelling at me saying "hali ka na sakay ka na!" ( get on and let's go ) I ignored him but he kept on calling my attention; It was never my plan to go home during this day because it's cold and I was so damn lazy to travel for an hour and a half riding a congested public bus, All I wanted was to go home in my auntie's house in Karangalan Cainta, Rizal and spend the weekend by watching movies and studying some new techniques in cooking Hindu foods; I was so sleepy and wanted to go home as soon as possible sleep for a couple of hours and begin my small adventure alone, but a loud voice captured my attention "pre! wala ka nang masasakyan!" ( you won't be able to catch any ride brother! ) so without any further hesitations I quickly leaped over a fence and covered my head with my jacket to shield it from the pouring rain; and all I could remember was the face of a fat bus driver who almost hit an old lady in our town and alas I was home in Tarlac overslept for almost 6 hours and woke up in my cozy bed with my little brother giggling; I woke up and asked him what's so funny and he told me that I was snorring like a Cow.
After brushing my teeth and switching the Television on a FLASH NEWS suddenly interrupted a daily show i used to watch ( Darna with Marian Rivera ) and it was about some water dams in Manila and all I heard was Marikina, Pasig, and Cainta are all underwater and people are stranded and was evacuated to some schools; I was surprised because earlier that day It was my bollocks plan to stay in my auntie's house in Cainta and explore new stuffs; I was shocked seeing the terrifying events of people stranded on top of their houses and nearly freaked out because I saw a very familiar place near my auntie's house and it was 6 feet underwater people are crying and all I thought of during that point of time is that WHAT IF I DIDN'T GO HOME; would I come to my senses and climb on top of the roof; and wait for a some rescue which would seem impossible because we don't have any ladder or maybe just freak out and panic then die of drowning. My mother was so worried because we have a relative in Country Side, Pasig and we could not reach them she was worried because her sister was left by her husband and she only lives with two of her daughters with her 1 year old grandchild; we stayed up for further updates in the news waiting for any information about that place but there was none.
September 31 09
Thursday
10:00 am
My mum finally received a phone call from my aunt who lives in Pasig, saying that they're OK because they've managed to evacuate and stay for a few days in their neighbors' house a few hours before their house went underwater; she was crying because they've lost everything they own and that they would have to begin from scratch once again; but as we all know a Filipino family never abandons each other specially in times of trials. Few more days passed and water began to disappear in Marikina, Pasig and Cainta but the damage was done and these towns became like ghost towns; houses were abandoned people sleeps outside their houses watching their things; but their determination to continue with their lives never faltered; this is what really amazes me with my fellowmen no matter how strong the storm is we will manage to stand firm and strong until another storm comes.
I took a leave on my work for four days because my aunt's house in Cainta is still filled with mud and still too dirty for someone sane to live in; right after four days me and my uncles and cousins went their in Cainta to clean the house and fix some broken appliances; when we arrived I couldn't recognize the place it was like in the movie war of the world people are lining to get their bag of relief goods; houses are filled with mud even shopping malls cars we're soaked with water and filled with mud; one thing i noticed was you can identify the pain due to what they've endured by looking at their eyes, the sadness bought by watching their houses, properties and loved ones vanish.
October 4 09
9:00am
Three days ago "Pepeng" Codename Parma was sighted east of a Visayan town in Borongan it was predicted to make a landfall in Aurora two provinces away from my hometown Lapaz, Tarlac within 36 hours.
A text message woke me up; from my colleague in my fraternity he told me to wake my lazy ass up because it's our anniversary and we have a motorcade I rushed towards our bathroom took a quick shower and wore my fancy fraternity shirt and joined the motorcade; we assembled atleast 2 jeepneys 20 motorcycles 5 try-cycles and 1 land cruiser with our banner.
During the motorcade we've noticed one thing it's that the previous typhoon Ondoy codename Ketsana destroyed everything that our fellow Lapazeno's tried to work on for the past few years; these are their main source of income farms, poultries, fishponds, etc. in a poor community similar to Lapaz these properties treated as treasures, cherished treasures.
The rice farms which was schedules to be harvested after a few days are underwater all destroyed; farmers would say "Sana kinain na lang ng mga hayop o kaya mga ibon kaysa sa nasira kahit papano may nakinabang" ( it would be better if birds or any animals ate these crops atleast they won't go to waste ) these crops are supposed to be harvested then sold at the local market and the money would be used for Chirstmas and the upcoming celebration of our town fiesta; but all was gone a work of 6 months was within 6 days; After our motorcade we all decided to end the day with food, booze and cigarette sticks.
The next morning a flash news caught my attention saying that another super typhoon will hit northern Luzon and residents are advised to look for high places or two storey houses to temporarily stay because 4 dams will release their excess waters and surely a lot of town would be underwater including Lapaz; and indeed it came the water came into our town during the night when most of us were asleep it's a good thing that we were informed to be alert when the water comes so most of the male members of each family woke up all night to watch out of their belongings and loved ones.
October 5 09'
10:15am
Early that morning a loud speaker phone woke me up I saw my neighbor shouting about some relief goods to be given by some non-government units and charitable institutions in our town and also that there will be a three day power failure in our town due to some faulty wiring; I asked myself "when the fuck did the wirings in our town become NOT FAULTY?", so I went out of our house to check on our house If it has already been drifted by the water like Noah's Ark, and what happened while I was asleep to my surprise It hasn't reached the Mediterrenean because It's still in Tarlac, but the grassy fields became like rivers constantly flowing with water; the water was clear as if like our town was in the middle of a lake.
after smoking a cigar a good method of helping me sink some events in my mind I went out of the road and saw some of my childhood friends running towards the other block I asked one of them where they're headed and they told me that some relief goods are being given out, so I followed them and tried to grab a bag for myself but the line was already so long before we reached it and soon realized that the goods won't reach us because there were only 3 sacks left.
some went home empty handed while the others shared their bag of goods to their neighbors this amazed me and somehow made me realize the beauty of living in a "barrio" because camaraderie never failed to exist in each and everyone; oh and by the way these relief goods were immediately given out by religious groups in our town, some were donations by some small business units and for the local government unit i haven't heard any and i don't give a fuck.
a few days later the water finally disappeared and everything went back to normal; students went back to their schools to clean their classrooms market vendors went back to their stalls which was 4 feet underwater during the flood, farmers tried to harvest the soaked crops and re-plant them.
Families were finally able to go back to their houses, I did not take any more pictures of this because of the sad view, to give you an idea most of the houses here are small and made of wood very fragile and it houses 5-7 family members, whenever a family arrives mothers begin to cry same thing with the fathers who will immediately try to fix their house picking up sticks and borrowing hammers to fix what's left and would soon realize that the damage was impossible to fix.
another sad chapter of my life; another story to tell I just wish that something could be done to prevent this tragedy, no more families crying of destroyed homes, no more wasted crops, no more.
9:27am
It was a rainy Saturday morning after my usual work when a persistent taxi driver kept on yelling at me saying "hali ka na sakay ka na!" ( get on and let's go ) I ignored him but he kept on calling my attention; It was never my plan to go home during this day because it's cold and I was so damn lazy to travel for an hour and a half riding a congested public bus, All I wanted was to go home in my auntie's house in Karangalan Cainta, Rizal and spend the weekend by watching movies and studying some new techniques in cooking Hindu foods; I was so sleepy and wanted to go home as soon as possible sleep for a couple of hours and begin my small adventure alone, but a loud voice captured my attention "pre! wala ka nang masasakyan!" ( you won't be able to catch any ride brother! ) so without any further hesitations I quickly leaped over a fence and covered my head with my jacket to shield it from the pouring rain; and all I could remember was the face of a fat bus driver who almost hit an old lady in our town and alas I was home in Tarlac overslept for almost 6 hours and woke up in my cozy bed with my little brother giggling; I woke up and asked him what's so funny and he told me that I was snorring like a Cow.After brushing my teeth and switching the Television on a FLASH NEWS suddenly interrupted a daily show i used to watch ( Darna with Marian Rivera ) and it was about some water dams in Manila and all I heard was Marikina, Pasig, and Cainta are all underwater and people are stranded and was evacuated to some schools; I was surprised because earlier that day It was my bollocks plan to stay in my auntie's house in Cainta and explore new stuffs; I was shocked seeing the terrifying events of people stranded on top of their houses and nearly freaked out because I saw a very familiar place near my auntie's house and it was 6 feet underwater people are crying and all I thought of during that point of time is that WHAT IF I DIDN'T GO HOME; would I come to my senses and climb on top of the roof; and wait for a some rescue which would seem impossible because we don't have any ladder or maybe just freak out and panic then die of drowning. My mother was so worried because we have a relative in Country Side, Pasig and we could not reach them she was worried because her sister was left by her husband and she only lives with two of her daughters with her 1 year old grandchild; we stayed up for further updates in the news waiting for any information about that place but there was none.September 31 09
Thursday
10:00 am
My mum finally received a phone call from my aunt who lives in Pasig, saying that they're OK because they've managed to evacuate and stay for a few days in their neighbors' house a few hours before their house went underwater; she was crying because they've lost everything they own and that they would have to begin from scratch once again; but as we all know a Filipino family never abandons each other specially in times of trials. Few more days passed and water began to disappear in Marikina, Pasig and Cainta but the damage was done and these towns became like ghost towns; houses were abandoned people sleeps outside their houses watching their things; but their determination to continue with their lives never faltered; this is what really amazes me with my fellowmen no matter how strong the storm is we will manage to stand firm and strong until another storm comes.
I took a leave on my work for four days because my aunt's house in Cainta is still filled with mud and still too dirty for someone sane to live in; right after four days me and my uncles and cousins went their in Cainta to clean the house and fix some broken appliances; when we arrived I couldn't recognize the place it was like in the movie war of the world people are lining to get their bag of relief goods; houses are filled with mud even shopping malls cars we're soaked with water and filled with mud; one thing i noticed was you can identify the pain due to what they've endured by looking at their eyes, the sadness bought by watching their houses, properties and loved ones vanish.October 4 09
9:00am
Three days ago "Pepeng" Codename Parma was sighted east of a Visayan town in Borongan it was predicted to make a landfall in Aurora two provinces away from my hometown Lapaz, Tarlac within 36 hours.
A text message woke me up; from my colleague in my fraternity he told me to wake my lazy ass up because it's our anniversary and we have a motorcade I rushed towards our bathroom took a quick shower and wore my fancy fraternity shirt and joined the motorcade; we assembled atleast 2 jeepneys 20 motorcycles 5 try-cycles and 1 land cruiser with our banner.
During the motorcade we've noticed one thing it's that the previous typhoon Ondoy codename Ketsana destroyed everything that our fellow Lapazeno's tried to work on for the past few years; these are their main source of income farms, poultries, fishponds, etc. in a poor community similar to Lapaz these properties treated as treasures, cherished treasures.
The rice farms which was schedules to be harvested after a few days are underwater all destroyed; farmers would say "Sana kinain na lang ng mga hayop o kaya mga ibon kaysa sa nasira kahit papano may nakinabang" ( it would be better if birds or any animals ate these crops atleast they won't go to waste ) these crops are supposed to be harvested then sold at the local market and the money would be used for Chirstmas and the upcoming celebration of our town fiesta; but all was gone a work of 6 months was within 6 days; After our motorcade we all decided to end the day with food, booze and cigarette sticks.The next morning a flash news caught my attention saying that another super typhoon will hit northern Luzon and residents are advised to look for high places or two storey houses to temporarily stay because 4 dams will release their excess waters and surely a lot of town would be underwater including Lapaz; and indeed it came the water came into our town during the night when most of us were asleep it's a good thing that we were informed to be alert when the water comes so most of the male members of each family woke up all night to watch out of their belongings and loved ones.
October 5 09'
10:15am
Early that morning a loud speaker phone woke me up I saw my neighbor shouting about some relief goods to be given by some non-government units and charitable institutions in our town and also that there will be a three day power failure in our town due to some faulty wiring; I asked myself "when the fuck did the wirings in our town become NOT FAULTY?", so I went out of our house to check on our house If it has already been drifted by the water like Noah's Ark, and what happened while I was asleep to my surprise It hasn't reached the Mediterrenean because It's still in Tarlac, but the grassy fields became like rivers constantly flowing with water; the water was clear as if like our town was in the middle of a lake.after smoking a cigar a good method of helping me sink some events in my mind I went out of the road and saw some of my childhood friends running towards the other block I asked one of them where they're headed and they told me that some relief goods are being given out, so I followed them and tried to grab a bag for myself but the line was already so long before we reached it and soon realized that the goods won't reach us because there were only 3 sacks left.
some went home empty handed while the others shared their bag of goods to their neighbors this amazed me and somehow made me realize the beauty of living in a "barrio" because camaraderie never failed to exist in each and everyone; oh and by the way these relief goods were immediately given out by religious groups in our town, some were donations by some small business units and for the local government unit i haven't heard any and i don't give a fuck.
a few days later the water finally disappeared and everything went back to normal; students went back to their schools to clean their classrooms market vendors went back to their stalls which was 4 feet underwater during the flood, farmers tried to harvest the soaked crops and re-plant them.
Families were finally able to go back to their houses, I did not take any more pictures of this because of the sad view, to give you an idea most of the houses here are small and made of wood very fragile and it houses 5-7 family members, whenever a family arrives mothers begin to cry same thing with the fathers who will immediately try to fix their house picking up sticks and borrowing hammers to fix what's left and would soon realize that the damage was impossible to fix.
another sad chapter of my life; another story to tell I just wish that something could be done to prevent this tragedy, no more families crying of destroyed homes, no more wasted crops, no more.
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