An Ode to Filipino’s Resilience (part 1)

Malamang, ito na ang unang Filipino at English post ko ito sa blog na ito. Pero marahil, isa na rin itong paraan para sa aking pagbibigay pugay sa bayaning Pilipino. This is just some compilations of my past blog posts in my older blogs dedicated to the Filipino spirit of resilience and bayanihan. This is just the first part. Bangon Pilipino!

Pilipinas: Sa Delubyo at Ligaya

(mula sa The Bamboo Bayou ng berniemack.i.ph – published November 12, 2005)

Ang Pilipinas ay itinuturing na isa sa mga pinadelikadong lugar pagdating sa mga sakuna na dulot ng lindol, pagputok ng bulkan, bagyo at iba’t ibang delubyo na dala ng inang kalikasan. Kung tutuusin, binibisita tayo ng humigit-kumulang na 18 o 20 na bagyo kada taon, may habagat na nagdadala ng malakas na bugso ng ulan tuwing Hunyo hanggang Oktubre. Mga lindol na aakalain mong katapusan na ng mundo tulad ng nangyari noong 1990 na sumira sa mga lungsod ng Baguio, Cabanatuan at Dagupan. Akala mo ang dagat dito hindi lumalamon ng lupa, noong 1976 ang Moro Gulf Tsunami ay kumitil ng libo-libong buhay sa baybayin ng Mindanao. Ang pagputok ng Pinatubo ay maituturing isa sa mga pagputok ng ika-20 siglo. Ayoko nang isa-isahin at baka maubos oras ko sa blog.

Sa palagay ko, maaaring dahil sa mga paghihirap nating nararanasan hindi lamang sa lipunan o ekonomiya, kundi sa pagharap sa mga delubyo na maaaring tayong mga tao ang nagdulot o di kaya’y paghihiganti ni Inang Kalikasan, ang nakapagpatibay sa atin habang dumadaan ang panahon. Kung tutuusin, para tayong mga kawayan na kahit anong lakas ng hangin, bumabaluktot lang tayo at hindi napuputol hanggang sa mamatay.

Nasabi nga pala sa Time Magazine noong Enero 2005 na ang Pilipinas daw ay isa sa pinakamasayang bansa sa buong mundo! Nakita ko sa larawan ng artikulong yaon na ang mga bata kahit nasa baha, nakangiti pa rin sa camera. Aba, napansin ko nga pala na kung andyan ang kamera ng media sa mga nasalantang lugar, hindi maiiwasan na ang iba ay kumakayaw sa likod o background ng taga-ulat. Akala mo’y di sila nadaanan ng delubyo! Sanay na si Juan de la Cruz sa mga ganitong pangyayari sa kanyang buhay, kahit mayaman siya o mahirap.

An Ode to Iloilo’s Catastrophe and Recovery

(mula saTragedy and Hope: An Ode to Iloilo’s Catastrophe and Recovery ng habagat.i.ph – published June 24, 2008 )

Saturday, I was at the class. I was informed that Typhoon Frank would probably hit Manila since the public signal warning was at signal number two yet there was sunshine. I didn’t took “Frank” seriously as I thought as earlier foretasted, would evade the Philippines and go to Japan instead, but it made a landfall.

Saturday afternoon after class, me and my friend went to Antipolo to do some research but failed due torrential rains…and this text from one of my best buds shocked me: “Bro, grbe bha sa Pvia, ara sa a2p akn u2d. (Bro, the flood in Pavia was at the worst. My brother was even at the rooftop.)..I was numb. I called my grandmother and she told me that she evacuated our house as half of it was submerged all of the sudden by floodwaters. The appliances and everything has not been saved…She’s all alone. She said that it was the worst flood that hit Pavia in recent memory.

And as I went home and watched CNN, the scene of Iloilo’s catastrophe was flashed for few minutes…familiar places which traditionally don’t have floods were like Atlantis! Emotionally I was uneasy. I’ve been to the floods of Iloilo, experienced it first hand. But not this devastating.

As the day passes by, the news trickles the media as the city and the province reel itself from the ravage of the murky waters from the mountains, poured by typhoon “Frank” and habagat monsoon. And by those times as the rain diminishes, cadavers are floating one by one. Miserable, the roads were muddy, some places were like lakes,  trees down and people frantic. This is what I see from the constant texts and calls and media…I was awed.

Mother Nature’s wrath was awesome, I was dumbstruck. Never seen Iloilo this miserable, this state that anyone was caught on a surprise. Disaster!!!

Despite hell broke loose, I am thankful that my loved ones are Ok. Although my home at Pavia was devastated and appliances were not salvaged, nothing of it could replace the lives of my loved ones who survived the wrath. And although my loved ones survived, I still sympathize and pray for those who lost their relatives and friends, hoping that they would soon recover and see the light behind the dark clouds.

Fellow kasimanwas, we will prevail. Our spirits would not be dampened, yet learned our lesson from this tragedy. We Ilonggos in history has this attitude of never-say-die, we fought for our freedom from the colonists, we’ve thread the murky waters of depression, we stood mighty despite the dethronement, we still stand. This is the time that we can prove that we as Ilonggos are courageous despite our gentleness. Padayon guihapon Ilonggo! Pagkatapos sang sini nga kalaut na aton nga ginabatyag, amo na ni ang tiyempo sang panibag-ong pagsugod!

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And I thought this would be the last time I’ll be ever seeing such disastrous flood like that of Ormoc and Iloilo, but I was wrong…a year later, mud and flood waters swept the our nation’s capital and northern Luzon.

To be continued…