Last Saturday, November 9 marked another first in the history of the Philippines. The first super mega major typhoon Yolanda (signal number 4) has made several landfalls in the our country. Its international name is Haiyan, which is a combination of two Chinese words meaning an Angry Ocean. It stood up to its name as there was a storm surge and washed away the city of Tacloban and other towns in Central Philippines. The aftermath was devastating! The city was flattened, dead bodies all around and hungry survivors in need of food and clothing walked like zombies as described by the news agencies.
Deep inside, my heart is breaking. Tears are falling for the victims, empathizing with them as our province back in the Philippines (Bicol) is a typhoon-prone region. Every year we had to prepare the onslaught of a typhoon but luckily this year, with the passing of several typhoons like Ondoy, Pablo and Yolanda, our province was spared. Nevertheless, the impact is still disheartening. For several days now, I have been stressed, terrified and sad over the news that I stopped watching. I helped in my own little way by sending some cash to someone trustworthy that my donation will be received by the typhoon victims themselves. But I know its not enough..the need is enormous. The victims need to build back their houses and their lives and try to cope with the loss of their loved ones.
Heartbreaking.
However, one good Filipino trait is that we are RESILIENT, we may have bended but not broken. We can stand on our feet in no time. Thanks for the international support coming in, thanks for the Bayanihan of our countrymen. Some people in our government may not be worthy of being lauded but some are doing their best in their job. And for that, we salute you. We salute our police and military officers, we salute our President and Ms. Soliman. Thank you for being our public servants. I just hope the corrupt people in the government will have change in their hearts and stop being greedy but have compassion to the needy.
