What Good Is A Typhoon?

Simply putting it as a typhoon would understate its effects. No, there were no strong winds that left houses roofless like Milenyo did. But Ondoy, oh Ondoy, your typhoon name sounds so cute but your wrath inundated roads, businesses, houses, and lives. You are terrible. There are many writeups in the Net about Ondoy and the evidence of its trail in Metro Manila. But what was I doing on a Saturday of heavy downpour? I had all my time to sleep that day. I stayed up most of Friday night until past 12:00 AM watching Dr. House and his team, enjoying their differential diagnosis each time. Saturday welcomed me with an enticing pouring of rains; I felt sinful but I had all the excuse to be a sloth. Enticing because I could curl on bed all day, what with the cold weather. But not for long. My brother woke me up to convince me to relay a message to our landlady. He complained of cockroaches crawling out of our bathroom's drainage hole, because the strainer was out of place. Cover it, I mentally suggested. But then he was persistent of ruining my lethargic mood so I did sent an SMS to our landlady anyway. I stayed on my bed though with my thoughts kicking already. Whoa, the sound of the rains could translate a rainbath into a hard back massage. I went down to pee and was welcomed with crawling creepy creatures and my brother's dancing-killing techniques. I only came to realize that by cockroaches he meant MANY cockroaches! Where did they all come from? I never managed to relieve my urine bag that morning. A little hour before lunch, I can hear Regie (one of my housemates) calling me downstairs. You see, I stay in my room most of the time. When I came down the second time, water is seeping through the doorsill that he has to use the dustpan to throw the liquid out of the house. I could hear one of our neighbors shouting, "Dalian mo, tumataas na yung tubig." Of course he meant the water was entering his house, and it was rising fast. Hmmm, I thought Regie could handle it anyway so I went back to my cave. In a matter of minutes I went down to ask him buy us lunch. He did, only to return soaked up to the hips and large raindrops marked his shirt. He changed clothes and we ate lunch. You see, we were spending a Saturday like everything was normal. Until I received text messages from friends asking how we are doing and if we are home. Why the sudden surge of concerned messages, I wondered. I switched on the television. It addressed my question. Marikina, San Mateo, Cainta -- three Philippine geographic terms that would consistently be written in the papers for the next days of the coming week. They all share something in common, along with other affected areas: devastated. I never knew how intense the typhoon was until I saw the scenes on the screen. They were depressing. And I have friends and relatives who live in those areas! I texted them but there was no reply. Come Sunday, the news would bear even sadder stories. My cousin was stranded at the airport. We could not get out of the house. We were watching news on the television the whole day to keep up with, well, the news. I could go on and on relating what happened during that weekend but I'm cutting this short to say what good things I learned. Filipinos are still Filipinos. They help each other. That's the bayanihan spirit. I myself was restless. What can I do to help? In my own way, I sorted my clothes, gave cash, and prayed. I chose to help those people close to me that needed my help. I have a really close college friend whose house was literally swept away with nothing left. I know there are still a lot out there in dire need of clothes, food, drinking water, medicines. These are immediate relief goods but any help they would receive during these times would echo a lifetime. I will be going now. Volunteerism is another thing. :) Mabuhay.