By Christian Edu Villegas
(Vol. XXVII No. 13, Editorial Cartoon)
Ondoy – the destroyer, the reminder(Vol. XXVII No. 13, Editorial Cartoon)
On September 26, Saturday, typhoon “Ondoy” (International Name: Ketsana) brought massive rains resulting to the death of at least 140 people and displacement of nearly half a million individuals in a large part of Luzon, particularly in Metro Manila. Dubbed as the most terrifying storm recorded in over 40 years, Ondoy brought a month’s long rainfall within six hours. As a direct consequence, Ondoy severely affected hundreds of thousands after it filled 80 percent of Metro Manila under water.
Flashed on national televisions and shown in the internet, the whole nation watched in horror at the scenes and pictures of devastation and how Mother Nature could cruelly strike back equalizing everyone – poor or rich, young or old, unknown or popular. The Ondoy tragedy, for the Filipinos who are safely watching in their respective homes, will be remembered in images of helpless men and women, children and aged, desperately balancing and hanging on electric cables to get out from the chest-deep water level; of cars and properties being worthlessly washed like toys by the raging floodwaters; of movie and television actress Christine Reyes being vulnerably stranded on the rooftop of her Marikina house.
The storm is over by now, but the nightmare continues to haunt especially the ones who are brutally affected by it. The grim pictures continue to flash as well. On the lighter side, Filipinos are now working hand in hand to at least aid a little to the damage that the typhoon caused. In fact, just a day after the destructive typhoon, over a hundred relief centers opened into action, with thousands of concerned citizens immediately offering donations and volunteering their services. Also, the Philippine government, 48 hours after the tropical storm, sought for international humanitarian assistance from the world community after it has placed Metro Manila and 25 provinces under a state of calamity.
While Ondoy causes inestimable damage and while Filipinos struggle hard to cope with or recover from it, at the same time, we are given one picture of irony by the tragedy as a disaster-prone nation.
Filipinos are very good at organizing relief programs once a disaster strikes but they are a failure at preventing disaster in the first place. Ondoy may be a natural disaster and no individual or institution has control over it, but its effects were compounded by human behavior – Ondoy, too, was a man-made calamity. Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA is logical in saying that the unusual volume of rain in Ondoy’s wake could be due to climate change and while we cannot blame ourselves for the fact that rains fell, we cannot escape from the reality that we have no one else but ourselves to blame for the fact that the floodwaters did not quickly subside.
Because the Filipino people only knew how to dispose of their trash by word and not by action, because the Filipino people are still slow learners in understanding that “prevention is better than cure”, because the Filipino people have not yet learned how to be safety-conscious and invest in disaster-prevention – there is no one who is responsible for everything but the Filipinos themselves. We bear responsibility, not for the rains, but for the floods.
Filipinos, indeed, have a fine tradition of helping each other in times of disaster, of quickly and efficiently organizing disaster relief work. It is indeed commendable that, these days, the tradition floods to the people who are affected by the grim typhoon. Unluckily, that tradition runs counter to the culture of recklessness and irresponsibility of Filipino people on little things – even in proper garbage disposal – that best explains why the Philippines is a disaster-prone nation in the first place. It is sad to say that it is this type of culture that creates man-made calamities.
May the Ondoy tragedy awaken the Filipino people now. May Ondoy, the destroyer, serve as a reminder to everyone to be more responsible – even on little things like proper garbage disposal. We should not wait for another calamity to victimize us first before we can have the best learned lesson.
Flashed on national televisions and shown in the internet, the whole nation watched in horror at the scenes and pictures of devastation and how Mother Nature could cruelly strike back equalizing everyone – poor or rich, young or old, unknown or popular. The Ondoy tragedy, for the Filipinos who are safely watching in their respective homes, will be remembered in images of helpless men and women, children and aged, desperately balancing and hanging on electric cables to get out from the chest-deep water level; of cars and properties being worthlessly washed like toys by the raging floodwaters; of movie and television actress Christine Reyes being vulnerably stranded on the rooftop of her Marikina house.
The storm is over by now, but the nightmare continues to haunt especially the ones who are brutally affected by it. The grim pictures continue to flash as well. On the lighter side, Filipinos are now working hand in hand to at least aid a little to the damage that the typhoon caused. In fact, just a day after the destructive typhoon, over a hundred relief centers opened into action, with thousands of concerned citizens immediately offering donations and volunteering their services. Also, the Philippine government, 48 hours after the tropical storm, sought for international humanitarian assistance from the world community after it has placed Metro Manila and 25 provinces under a state of calamity.
While Ondoy causes inestimable damage and while Filipinos struggle hard to cope with or recover from it, at the same time, we are given one picture of irony by the tragedy as a disaster-prone nation.
Filipinos are very good at organizing relief programs once a disaster strikes but they are a failure at preventing disaster in the first place. Ondoy may be a natural disaster and no individual or institution has control over it, but its effects were compounded by human behavior – Ondoy, too, was a man-made calamity. Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA is logical in saying that the unusual volume of rain in Ondoy’s wake could be due to climate change and while we cannot blame ourselves for the fact that rains fell, we cannot escape from the reality that we have no one else but ourselves to blame for the fact that the floodwaters did not quickly subside.
Because the Filipino people only knew how to dispose of their trash by word and not by action, because the Filipino people are still slow learners in understanding that “prevention is better than cure”, because the Filipino people have not yet learned how to be safety-conscious and invest in disaster-prevention – there is no one who is responsible for everything but the Filipinos themselves. We bear responsibility, not for the rains, but for the floods.
Filipinos, indeed, have a fine tradition of helping each other in times of disaster, of quickly and efficiently organizing disaster relief work. It is indeed commendable that, these days, the tradition floods to the people who are affected by the grim typhoon. Unluckily, that tradition runs counter to the culture of recklessness and irresponsibility of Filipino people on little things – even in proper garbage disposal – that best explains why the Philippines is a disaster-prone nation in the first place. It is sad to say that it is this type of culture that creates man-made calamities.
May the Ondoy tragedy awaken the Filipino people now. May Ondoy, the destroyer, serve as a reminder to everyone to be more responsible – even on little things like proper garbage disposal. We should not wait for another calamity to victimize us first before we can have the best learned lesson.
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