One of the most destructive Philippine Typhoon that has been recorded was “Ondoy” (international name: Ketsana). According to "Situation report no.50 on Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) and Typhoon Pepeng (Parma)" the 2-day storm last September 2009 had a cost of destruction amounting to Php 11 billion (USD 244 million). Moreso, this left trauma to many Filipinos.
For the past week, heavy rain and flood was experienced and state of calamity was declared in Bataan, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna; Culion, El Nido, Linacapan, all of Palawan and in the cities of Marikina, Muntinlupa, Pateros, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, San Juan, Pasig, Caloocan and Pasay, according to The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). Unusual it may seem but this was not brought about by a storm. The heavy and continuous pouring of rain was due to “Habagat” (southwest monsoon).
With the several decades of my life, I never really paid attention to those who deliver weather news, from Armando Pineda of GMA news, Kim Atienza of ABS-CBN and former PAGASA director Nathaniel Cruz (even when he was still with PAGASA and until Mang Tani recently went back to the Philippines to be GMA NEWS’ regular meteorologist) talk about rain until it becomes a Typhoon. I never cared about southwest monsoon or Habagat (I bet most of us did not) until Habagat introduced itself this past week.
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| Red vehicle "drowned" by "Habagat's" flood |
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| "Ang basurang itinapon mo, babalik sa yo" -- When will we learn? |
We keep on asking God to spare us from calamities,
Yet it never dawned on us that it is our individual responsibility
to throw away wastes properly.
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| Now an UNLUCKY store |
We should realize that this will never stop until we start caring for our environment. It should serve as a reminder that it can happen again if we can't start being responsible. Calamities may not cease or lessen overnight but it will over sometime if we think of tomorrow's children - our actions today are their future.
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| one of the children that Pater Benedictus Movement Inc fed during the relief operations at Brgy Bambang, Pasig City |
