Ondoy

We were at Pudong International Airport last Saturday afternoon when I and my colleagues heard the news. I heard about the typhoon earlier that day but I initially did not mind. Typhoons come and go in the country. Unlike my colleagues who were longing to come home to their families (they were both married), I did not mind if our flight back was delayed.

But when I learned about the flood, that's when the danger of the typhoon sank in. Ondoy was not an ordinary typhoon and it was hurting Manila in an unprecedented scale. Suddenly, I wanted to get home to check for myself how things were.

The flight back was relatively safe, considering the weather towards the country (I think, PAL pilots are really quite good). For the first time, however, it took more than an hour for us to de-plane once we got to the Centennial Airport. We just 'parked' somewhere in the airport and remained seated all that time. Flights were delayed and there was no available tube.

Arrival Section - Centennial Airport

The moment passengers finally stepped inside the airport building, an announcement about all major routes to/from the airport were closed/not passable greeted us. For not knowing how the way to my place was (I knew our street was flooding thru a call from a friend), I chose to stay in the airport. I slept on the baggage conveyor. I knew though that I had better fate than the ones I saw on the net who were braving chest-deep waters. (I got home at 4am the next morning; our plane landed at the airport at past 8pm.)

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The damage was heartbreaking. As I watched TV news reports, I could see the grief, the helplessness. Tragic.

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I know it's a waste of energy, but I must say it: the government did not rise to the occasion. I know, I know. I know it was too big a disaster to totally be prepared for, but please, what little the government could do was just too little. And some, too late. I doubt the government (national and local leaders) took disaster preparation seriously. I've never heard of projects for it. All I heard were election fraud, shady business deals, houses in the US, fancy dinners, questionable statements of assets/liabilities, etc. The list is long.

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Was at Whitespace this afternoon. Wanted to volunteer as packer for relief goods. There were a lot of volunteers there already. I helped pack a few bags but it seemed that the goods to pack ran out. Since there was nothing much to do, I headed home after staying in less than 30 minutes.I'm hoping to do further volunteering this Saturday.

Oh, Lord, bless my country.