What It Takes – Typhoon Ondoy/Ketsana the Eye Opener

Nearly a week has passed since Typhoon Ondoy, (international storm name Ketsana) has wrought its deadly havoc upon the country’s capital city, incapacitating the other neighboring cities and provinces. The rest of the country grew steadily silent and stopped at its tracks, watching as the devastation grows worse by the minute on television.




Ondoy – The Little Boy
Ondoy, a Filipino nickname meaning Little Boy, was not a little storm. It was not the average typhoon that the country’s used to. It poured out a month’s worth of rainfall in a matter of 8 hours. The floodwaters quickly engulfed the bustling metropolis, the neighboring subdivisions and villages, and every nook and cranny where water can go through. The current was strong enough to topple trucks, wash away cars, houses and even people. It was a nightmare the Philippines thought it would never dream of again.

The Storm Continues
We know nothing of what the victims of Ondoy felt during that fateful Saturday; The fear of losing your life, the cold torture of both water and wind, your body’s energy just seeping away every single second. I can’t even imagine of the parents when they left their children all alone at home in the morning, only to find out their houses are already neck-deep in flood water. I can’t imagine the feeling of every child who had to go through the unfortunate event. Truth is, we couldn’t have done a single thing. We all wished we had the power to swoop in and save hundreds of lives and take them to safety. The truth is: We’re only human.

We Are All Victims
When Ondoy finally calmed down, the country was still in a state of shock and despair. The floodwaters continued to claim lives and destroy everything in its path. Whether we were drenched in the floodwaters or a thousand miles away from the devastation, we are all victims. I know those who are helping right now in the relief and rescue efforts were just as affected emotionally and psychologically as the victims. It’s heart shattering to see the images and footages of the devastation of Ondoy. It’s heart shattering to see so many people are helpless and homeless. It’s sad to see the tragedy of the entire devastation. I would be lying if I said that the rest of the Philippines are going on with their lives without a heavy heart.

Where?
Victims of the storm all have the same questions in mind: Where do we start over? Where are my loved ones? Where do I go from here? Where is help? Where is the government? Where are our leaders? Where was God?
The sad truth: the government was not there to guide the victims. The leaders of our country took shelter when all others lost theirs. Who led the country in their place? Two media giants: ABS and GMA. They were the ones who kept track of everything that was happening that day. They were the ones who immediately took action and started to ask for help via donations and telethons. They were our eyes when the government closed theirs. It was only after the storm that the government started to help. What about God? Where was He the whole time? God came in the presence of individuals who have risked their lives to save others. He came in the presence of a 49 year old judge who saved 100 people from their flooded houses via his jet ski. He came in the presence of an 18 year old construction worker who lost his life but saved 30 including a mother and her baby girl. He came in the presence of every man and woman who had the heart and give their time to help others. He was EVERYWHERE.

The spirit of the Filipino people has been shattered by the relentless storm. The lives of nearly hundreds of thousands of families have been changed. Over 200 have lost their lives. Typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy has opened the eyes of every Filipino; that we are helpless against Mother Nature, that we are helpless against her attacks with our current government, that we are at the mercy of every gust of wind and every drop of rain. The Filipino people are a very resilient people. Heroes were born, made and lost with this tragedy. In complete mercy and sympathy, we have helped the unfortunate victims of the typhoon because that’s just who we are. We were taught to help those who are in need. We were taught to pray for those who need it.

It took a calamity to unite us now. How many calamities must we face before we realize that we need to unite to better our country and ourselves?
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A short reflection

It’s been sometime since I’ve last updated this blog and I really can’t think of anything to write and share with my readers except this short reflection.
At some point in our life, we all get to that certain phase where we know what we want to achieve, who we want to be with, and who we want to share our dreams and achievements with. It may come the moment we graduate from high school or it may come later when we enter the real life and get our first job.

Yet, despite of the many relationships that we’ve had, (or if you are one of the lucky few who are still with their special someone after so many years), we only desire for one person to be with for the rest of our lives. People who casually play around with relationships often get tired and find someone to share the rest of their life with. Since they treat relationship like a game, it’s no surprise that the longer they play, the more they get bored with it and looking down to retire, like how a basketball player would retire after playing his 5000th game or so. I am just exaggerating with the number of course, but you get the picture. I found that someone who I want to share the rest of my life with and who I want to share my dreams and goals with. We met at a very weird circumstance, and we just simply clicked. We are so similar in so many ways to the point that even our differences complement each other. We just started out but it feels like we’ve known each other for so long now, like we were lovers during our past lives. I know that reincarnation and past lives are myth but somehow I believe in it. What I am trying to say is that, even though life may give us the best and worst of times, it’s still worth it if we have that someone beside us when we go through our best and worst of times.

We only need to wait for that special someone to come into our lives when we least expect it and when that time comes, you can really say that it was definitely worth the wait.
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Long distance relationships

Long distance relationships rarely work, even those that have been in relationships and they have initiated physical contact and intimacy for a long time.
Temptation plays a big part in long distance relationship failures. Why? There is a bigger tendency that either or both of the partners engage in sexual encounters with others. In a certain scenario, a married couple ends up being separated by distance when one of the spouses is transferred to another location for the sake of career progress. Not that there is anything wrong with this, but the motto “what he/she won’t know, won’t hurt him/her” comes into mind for the stay at home partner.

One night stands resulting in long distance relationships never end so well for both sides, unless your partner is that numb to ignore your pains and thus for him/her it’s like landing the big jackpot on random top online casinos.
Nevertheless, those that intend on entering long distance relationships should reconsider the factors involved. It takes two for the relationship to succeed and the same goes for long distance relationships.
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