The Break of Dawn

Our Raft of Life–

I hurried to finish my entry for Picture Perfect last week, one column and one book review. Just around an hour after I finished, the lights went out and the house remained in darkness until evening the following day. The tropical storm had hit and all we could do was watch as the water rose. Throughout the day, worries about family members still not home filled us. One was stuck in a flood and as the water rose to chest level, she had to bang on the doors of a call center nearby along with so many others to be let in. They were told that they’d only be let in if they could pay their salaries for the year. That doesn’t make sense. People who are panicking rarely do.

Erick Lirios

The next day was silent but everyone knew that there was so much grief around. Cars piled atop one another made the usual photos but these hardly told the real stories. People lost their lives, others their homes. What do you do? Save your very dear property, your memories or yourself? Often, the answer to this is simple but painful nonetheless.

Going around that Sunday afternoon felt very odd. My house was safe. Everyone in the family was safe. No damage to the house, none to the cars. But everyone else in my hometown seemed to have been hit hard. All around, I knew that many of my neighbors were having a much harder time than I was. The whole stretch of Marcos Highway was a disaster area. Floodwaters were still around and there was plastic everywhere. Upon reaching the Marcos Bridge, it became apparent that the water had reached the bridge. The last time this happened was 21 years ago. The Riverbanks Mall was totally damaged and security guards had to work overtime just to make sure looters didn’t have any chance to get their way. The pair of shoes that got Marikina on the Guinnes Book of World Records had crashed on the glass windows and was partially out already.

Every time something like this happens, it hurts and even while you thank God that you’re safe and that your family is also, you all know that there are so many others who have lost their lives, their homes, their property and, for some, even their hope. It is one of God’s blessings though that Filipinos, in general, are a happy people almost to a fault. Even when people were clearing mud from their homes and their furniture, many were joking around and enjoying each other’s company happy that they still had each other. We are also blessed that even with situations like these, people don’t forget how God has taken care of them.

My son was very, very amused that in one home, there was an image of the Infant Jesus untouched by the water. He was perched around eight feet above the ground on a makeshift platform. Maybe this wasn’t a miracle but rather the people’s way of making sure the image was safe. It was a very heartening thing to see especially with the image of the infant Christ holding out His arms seemingly saying, “Come to Me all who are weary.”

There was also this woman, old that she was and seemingly dazed by the destruction, who hugged the image of the Infant Jesus tight. I wanted to take a photo of her but could not in respect for her. Her hands holding on to the image seemed to be her own prayer asking for His help and protection as well as His continued mercy on her family and her neighbors.

Getting to work

There is so much more to do. There are the usual suspects when it comes to relief operations – the Red Cross, the Armed Forces, the Philippine National Police, the University of the Philippines, the Ateneo de Manila, de La Salle University, ABS-CBN, GMA, etc. These guys have been so used to doing this type of stuff that they have a very good idea of what to do.

I went to the Ateneo and joined in the assembly lines to get food to trucks bound for places like Malanday, Marikina and Marilao, Bulacan. I was assigned a team to head for Plaridel, Bulacan since they were trying to avoid any untoward incidents. Just the day before, there was a stampede in Marilao as soon as the food arrived. People were starving, cold, hurt and so concerned that their loved ones were suffering. You couldn’t blame them but still, precautions had to be taken. The goods were brought to Plaridel and it was up to the Philippine Army to get them to the site.

These kids really worked hard though some of them were really expecting to have fun. That’s normal, I guess. They had the privilege of working with some very dedicated members of the Philippine Army who have been serving the people of Pulilan and Marilao though they actually come from Hagonoy, Bulacan.

I don’t have the complete list of my volunteers but here are some of them: Darlene, Mark, Bettina, Marian, Pau, Vicka, Karen, Tricia, and Cat. To all the others whose names I don’t have, thank you so much. I am so proud of you and, more importantly, you did some really good work.