I’ve been away from some of my online haunts lately. My momentum broke because the week began with a flood. Not the knee-deep flood that is the staple in expanding Philippine cities but the run for your life kind of floo
d that makes you wonder if the sins of mankind have yet again merited another Biblical Great Flood. This time, the story stars not a local Noah but the embattled conman or martyr (depending on your loyalties) from the people’s palace who came recently with a grin and matching relief goods.
It’s tempting to blame the calamity on the entities in power, the same ones who regularly mount circus acts that are more astounding and convoluted than the acrobatic shows of the Cirque du Soliel. Unfortunately, not even Filipino trapos (traditional politicians) can make complicated rain dances that cause floods so they can display their beneficence, pocket disaster funds and chisel their names on the concrete projects intended to prevent disasters.
Of course, the old ones still believe in conspiracy theories and they suspect that the powers that be have been affixing their signatures in invisible ink on logging clearances. The younger theorists though tend to believe more in the effects of global warming. The Cagayan de Oro flood may very well have been our first taste of the nastiness of this new-fangled environmental mess.
I once worked in an education institution that taught its students that global warming is, beyond doubt, real. I never knew until I read about Michael Crichton’s differing stand that some experts dispute the theory of global warming. Of course, if Leonardo DiCaprio says it’s real, it must be because I am female and he said so (that was a joke).
The sad fact is, whether global warming really causes floods or not, these floods are likely related to the price of what industrialists call development, the kind that they enjoy. The ones whose homes were underwater for a day or disappeared with the water forever probably can’t appreciate anything.
So while my initial reaction to our two days of no electricity was to scream that I would not survive without the internet, I’m not about to complain. Many of the thousands of affected families (5000 according to one report) have had to swim for their lives, contend with washed down snakes and sleep on cold concrete for days after the flood. Who knows where they’ll be sleeping next and what they’ll be feeding their kids when the relief from those relief goods run out.
P.S. Is it just me or is the riverside balut maker’s hut missing? Where have all the ducks gone? I suppose there will be a shortage of unborn chicks for my drinking buddies to feast on.
*Third photo by Robstroy of CDO Bloggers
*PBA verification code PBA094s174r9
This is what the Philippines has become. A typhoon hits, the city floods, and humanity was put into test.
so true marie
Have you been to Butuan, Grace? It’s 4hrs away. It’s the same, same, same there but worse. Hehehe. Butuan, now you see, now you don’t.
Sometimes I really get tired na about fuming about are trapos. But the day we tire is the day we stop blogging.
The resistance lives on.
Have you been to Butuan, Grace? It’s 4hrs away. It’s the same, same, same there but worse. Hehehe. Butuan, now you see, now you don’t.
Sometimes I really get tired na about fuming about our trapos. But the day we tire is the day we stop blogging.
The resistance lives on.
yup, yup, i heard it’s far worse in other cities and regions. takot lang ako sa cagayan de oro river kasi nakakapatay
hehe. ok rin yan ah… “resistance”… feeling ko jedi ako 🙂
Our new year’s day was greeted by a flood as well and we only have a few hours of electricity daily due to the bombing in Lanao. It’s certainly not the ideal dawning of a new year… but yes, I realized that we’re still among the fortunate ones. Nevertheless, these are signs that we are really living in a decaying world.
it’s alarming isn’t it traveling minstrel? i’d hate to have to experience and witness more disasters.
my gulay ikaw pala ang original TBAC winner!!! naging title ko rin ang title mo when I and my fellow doctors had blog rounds asking ourselves why do we blog? this was when i still didn’t know tbac. i had been reading ur entry, not knowing ikaw pala ang sumulat nun. hehehe!
ehehehe. ngayon mo lang pala na-realize 🙂
medyo nga naman departure from my usual style yung pagkasulat non kasi medyo nangapa pa ako nun at feeling serious yung TBAC. abay akalain mo, pwede naman pala mag joke joke sa entry. next contest na sasalihan ko di na ko magiging masyadong serious 🙂
the title has gripped me and so with the rest of its content. how true that weather in the philippines has gone extremely erratic for the past ten years. even iloilo has not been spared from the fury of nature. check this out: http://www.iloilo.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=501&Itemid=255
but one question that really stir my mind is that how are we going to evade global warming? unless we find a new planet for relocation, we will endlessly suffer for its effect. Amen.
grabe pud ang nangyari sa iloilo totomel. disasters are all over the country and the world. murag lisod sabton ngano ni.
It’s the end of the world! lol
CDO – the “floating” capital of the Philipines.. daghan na baka ga lutaw lutaw…
medyo hadlok ko carms. i live in carmen and balulang and lower carmen are already affected. murag macanhan nalang ang nag sitting pretty waiting to see if maigo ba or dili. huhuhu
Rebuilding and preparing for the next one is the best thing the government and us can do at this point.
Great article nins! I feel little when I’m reading your posts (even I’d like to think of myself a good writer). Share naman ng tips oh.
Ei, we have something in common aside from writing. We both grew up in Luzon. eheheheheheh
wow. really sa luzon pud diay ka? it feels great nga naa koy na meet na taga luzon pud.
tips? well, the real secret to my writing ability is years and years of reading. honest. no formal training whatsoever. anyone can do it.
thanks for dropping by kenneth. i like communicating with you a lot cause i do sense that we are kindred spirits when it comes to writing 🙂