High Quality
Open the downloaded document, and select print from the file menu (PDF reader required).
1/7/10 7:38 PMThe Day After Ondoy | Filipino VoicesPage 1 of 36http://filipinovoices.com/the-day-after-ondoy
search
Featured Links:
September 27th, 2009 bycocoy
How bad it is in Manila via
1/7/10 7:38 PMThe Day After Ondoy | Filipino VoicesPage 2 of 36http://filipinovoices.com/the-day-after-ondoy
@Big_Boy_JimOn the 26th day of September 2009, Tropical Storm Ondoy, known as Ketsana to you international folksvisited my hometown of Metro Manila, capital of the Philippines.Ondoy wept sixteen point seven inches of rainfall in twelve hours and turned my hometown into an ocean. If you want to frame it in proper context,scientists have told us that the typical rainfall in Metro Manila for the month of September was fifteeninches of rain. Put it in another way,rainfall in Florida and Louisiana when Katrina visited the United Stateswas fifteen inches.On twitter, people were calling it worst than Katrina.I would like to be writing here that those people were wrong. I would love nothing more than to say that thegovernment had stepped in, with full confidence to rescue people trapped on top of their homes, especiallyin Cainta. I wished that I could tell you government was prepared and that we are coordinated in deliveringrescue and relief.We are saddened by the loss of life. @ageofbrilligtweeted a report over AM radio station DZMM: “Bodiesat provident Village found inside their vehicles, many of the deceased were female.”The destruction wrought on property, the trauma this experience brought people is another matter entirely.People almost everywhere were huddled up at the highest level of their house. They were people I knew.They were friends. Some of them had little or no food. Another had his car soaked in water. He hasn’tstarted it, waiting for a mechanic. His clinic though was a disaster area, with books drenched. His clinic wasin the first level of their house. My cousin’s in-laws were trapped in the second floor of their house. Alltheir food and rice, underwater. They only had some bananas to get them through the night. In other parts of the city, the water had risen up to the third level. They’re not the only ones. As I type this, friends who livein Pasig continue to be trapped with rescue still far as waters are still too high and boats, too few.You can see this stream of Ondoy for thesnaps.This ishow bad Ondoy was: it pounded Metro Manila as Manny Pacquiao would his victims in the ring.Yesterday, today and I hope tomorrow continue to be a moment for the aspirants in next year’s election to
1/7/10 7:38 PMThe Day After Ondoy | Filipino VoicesPage 3 of 36http://filipinovoices.com/the-day-after-ondoy
shine. Though partisanship is set aside in this time of great crisis. Noynoy Aquino and his choice for VicePresident, Mar Roxas were hard at work to deliver relief work. Senator Manny Villar had a fleet of dumptrucks ready to help the stranded. Senator Dick Gordon of the Red Cross was good to go to rescue people.People everywhere were tweeting and helping out. They still do now. Sending information on who neededhelp or where to send for help, in donations.There is a Filipino word for it: Bayanihan.The government led by aspirant Secretary of Defense Teodoro and the President were huddled in a militarycamp. They were meeting to talk about what to do. It wasn’t until nightfall that they were able to decide tosend out 13 rubber boats. The worst hit area was assigned only one boat. Cainta remains unaccounted for.Did I mention that many more are trapped in Pasig as I write this?The MMDA and the government are doing their best, as best as they could manage. That’s not to say, it wasor is enough. It is to say though we are appreciative of the service the people on the ground are doing. Thegrunts, we owe beer to. The ones on top though, they fall short.In the next few days, blame will be laid down, mostly, on Bayani Fernando’s head, one could imagine. He isMetro Manila Development Authority head. His duty is Urban Planning. His thankless job is to keep thestreets from flooding and to keep garbage collected as well as to maintain traffic.I probably should have written “was”, instead of “is”. Can he keep his job after this?To put blame on the guy, isn’t without merit but the blame isn’t his entirely. The Metro Manila Mayors—the local government units should have been better prepared for disaster. Metro Manila should have beenbetter prepared. It isn’t like this is the first time the Metropolis was visited by a tropical storm, much less atyphoon. It isn’t the first time that flood waters have risen in the city. It will not be the last either.We’re not just talking about flood waters here or Typhoons. It could be a tidal wave next time. It could bean Earthquake.We must move past the blame, and step into the future.In the next few days, the People of Manila will be picking up the pieces of their shattered lives. We willbury our dead. We will fix our cars and our homes and our roads. We are thankful for the gift of still havingclothes on our back, while others have none and some have lost even more than mere numbers couldquantify. Then our lives will gradually return to normal.The thing that troubles me the most is that this problem we have is wider in depth and scope than merelypreventing disaster. It is even greater than merely being ready to face that unknown future where ultimatelywe will again be tested. It encompasses the other challenges of city life. The terrible traffic, the state of ourmass transit, the way we manage our waste and how our metropolis is designed.Roch (
pronounced
, Rosh), a friend of mine recently returned from Taiwan. She blogged about how efficientthe mass transit system there and hadthis wish:For Metro Manila, I know it’s close to impossible. This is my challenge for the next president,hope he/she could plan for this so we can have something similar in the future. This candefinitely help the terrible traffic problem that we have in the country.Those of us who’ve been around the world can understand where Roch is coming from. Can we look eachother in the eye and say that this is worth pursuing?It started on the 26th Day of September, 2009. It continues now. Filipinos showed a depth of our generosityand unparalleled heroism as each held another’s arms, helping out as best we could, no matter how little itwas.To call for unity is a tired cliche, I know. I tell you this. To answer the great perils of tomorrow, to meet our
Add a Comment