Jasmine.

My mind resonates well with what Jimmy Paredes wrote in his book (Writing in Water, 2003) about the futility of human obsession “…on achievement and conquest, passion and purpose…”. Although he had also mentioned that such cynicism does not entirely reflect his person,  it befittingly describes how my brain operates at the moment.

The recent Ondoy tragedy never recognized who or what it will victimize. Rich or poor, brilliant or otherwise, famous or not, young and old alike – all of them did not escape its brewing wrath. Ondoy definitely is one of the biggest calamities ever to hit the country and to record destruction on an epic scale. Overnight, NCR and nearby regions became another version of New Orleans in 2005. Cars and vehicles were inundated with water and were thrown mercilessly against each other. Many homes were swept into oblivion, and a good number of our countrymen suffered greatly, some were found as dead bodies, and many are still missing at this time. There was no water to drink, no food to eat, worse – all of their sweat and blood, all of their properties were reduced into NOTHING! It happened at such a breakneck pace no one would have guessed will bring this kind of misfortune.

At exactly the same instant I saw the weeping image of a local celebrity trapped in her Marikina abode, I saw myself as a child praying hard for the countless storms not to demolish what little belonging my family owns. I grew up in this horrible spot in the Philippine map where typhoon is no big deal, mainly because it visits us as often as any ardent lover would visit his object of affection. I remember how I worried myself to death where my parents will get money for my tuition fees and that of my siblings. There were many instances we had to wait for our electricity’s restoration, sometimes waiting for half a year! Be that as it may seem, I saw the resiliency in spirit of my parents and every Bicolanos. Palay, which serves as our staple, almost always gets destroyed. But every time a storm visits us, I hear or see no complain when they start doing the planting process over and over again.

Ondoy was no different, except that, it washed away everything. It claimed innocent lives! My heart was bleeding when the TV flashes an infant wrapped in baby clothes, placed inside what looked like an ice box. And the little one seemed unperturbed by what’s going on around him (or her?). I can only wish that this child grows up to be a responsible one who will not contribute to environmental degradation. Someday, he (or she) will see that same footage.  When that time comes, may he (or she) realize the truth that what we do to our nature, ultimately comes back to us.

I am not blaming anybody. But there has to be a reason why things happen. And obviously, there has to be a shift in our mindset towards what will harm or what will be beneficial to us in the long run. Yesterday, I had a calling brigade to check if my sister and her family in Sampaloc were okay, or my brother (who was trapped in Manila to claim his last paycheck) was safe. Thank God they are doing well. My parents were like  crazy, texting me every once in a while, bugging me to find out what’s going on with my younger siblings. Sorry but that’s what you get for being the eldest child! I have another sister in Ateneo, but being super-smart that she is (except in the ‘heart’ department) –I know she’ll just be as fine.

Now,  it leaves me one more realization:  if education were a great equalizer, and so are calamities! Walang mayaman-mayaman o magaling pag nasa harap mo na ang disgrasya. Apart from praying, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little responsible so that there will no longer be Ondoys to scare us to our wits in the near future.