Iliganon’s in the Aftermath

It may take a very long time for the families who were greatly affected by the flood; the families who have lost their loved ones; and those who are still hoping that they can find the missing to totally disregard the disaster that happened in their lives.

                The debris of the wrath of the typhoon is still clearly seen in the affected areas thus making it hard for the people to forget what had happened. In relevance, the left-out of the tragedy has some prevalent negative effects on the environment. Outcomes that the Iliganons are suffering and is degrading them in terms of physical health; psychological well-being; and the worst is, economic instability.

                This economic instability the survivors are undergoing pertains to their current setting. This is the problem of where to relocate these families – and this is a problem that has to be addressed to. The evacuation centers in which the affected families are placed do not have enough amenities that can serve the people well.

                In an evacuation center, it is very inevitable that there will be outbreaks of epidemic diseases such as leptospirosis, tubercolosis, and etc. One main reason to this is that the great number of people staying in the same place.

                What is then the main reason that still now, the people who are greatly affected are not yet relocated into their new house?

                The Philippines’ present poor condition particularly in the northern part of Mindanao has been spread worldwide that there have been countries who have aided the country economically. These countries include Japan which donated a million US dollars; Indonesia gave 300,000 US dollars; the small country of Italy; the United States; and the United Nations association. With these help coming from other countries, this help should be enough in building new houses for the homeless.

                In retrospect, that was a bit of a blow of hopefulness there. We all know now that focusing on the really important is not something that characterizes the government of today. To be fair to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, focusing on the truly important cannot really be well thought-out virtues of any Philippine government for that matter, seeing that template disasters like these go beyond time, geography, and politics.

Water: Life saver or life stealer?

On the early dawn of December 17, 2011, a typhoon typically named “Sendong” – international name is “Wasi” – passed through Iligan City. It was a natural tragedy residents of Iligan had not expected to happen in their place.

                At the height of Sendong’s raging wrath, communication seems to be as important as the air the people use to breathe. It seemed to be their last hope to stay alive even though it came to the point where mostly of the affected people thought it was impossible. Communication served as an instrument — a instrument which the people only possess at the moment — for the people to survive against the water that took the lives of the many people in Iligan City on that night. Momentarily, a survivor and a resident of Brgy. Hinplanon, Iligan City Dean Jeremy Dagting said, “My situation, our family’s situation was not the kind of condition anyone would think it would be. Everywhere was covered with darkness; every angle your eyes would set upon was cloaked with the shadows of uncertainty. And that time, water was not a life saver, it was a life stealer.”

                Consequently, on the night of their worst plight, many lives perished because of the water everyone have thought as life saver but that time of the dimness of the night, it was otherwise – a furious life stealer. As Dean have described the night of the raging typhoon, he had heard the screams of the people drowning as the water had slowly swallowed their bodies into its deadly depth. Dean said, “I was more fortunate than the rest who have lost their lives because I was able to climb the second floor of our house. However I suffered the wrath of the water as I had slipped and been stumbled on by our motorcycle.” He further said that as he climbed the roof of their house, he was literally slapped by the water and for a second he felt dizziness. He said that he and his family stayed on the roof for almost six hours and waited fir the water to level down.

                As the level of the water had lowered down, they got off their roof and to their surprise, they saw a lot of dead bodies of the animals scattered in the muddy streets. And what’s worst is, a myriad of lifeless human bodies lying on the streets like a piece of trash. As they entered into their devastated house, it has been emptied and what’s left is a pile of odorous mud. “Our things were floating. Our newly bought LCD television was soaked in mud, our sofa, rice cooker, refrigerator, and our things that my parents had bought. The most horrible thing that had happened to me is that I lost all my application for the Philippine Military Academy and all my hope in applying again slowly faded,” Dean said.

                With their present condition now, their family has moved on and is living in his uncle’s house — the brother of his mother. He said that their house cannot be lived in because of its weakened foundation due to the wrath of the typhoon Sendong.

                What had happened on the fearful dawn of December 17, 2011 is not easy forget for the Iliganon’s have been badly decreased. The water that took away the lives of the many innocent people is printed on the minds of the survivor. Experiencing a tragedy like our fellow brothers and sisters had went through can serve a lesson for everyone of us that the things we think can save us can sometimes be the tool in killing us.

                Water: Life saver or life stealer?

Typhoon Sendong’s Wrath: A Dose of Our Own Medicine???

“In my twenty-two years of existence, there is nothing major, major problem, I mean major mistake that I have done...”

This was the famous answer of Maria Venus Raj during the Miss Universe Pageant, Q and A portion. Sounds funny yet this answer made Venus Raj very popular over the country. If I were to ask you that question, how would you answer it? Would you answer it differently? Or the same as Venus Raj did?

If given the chance to answer the question, as an environmentalist, I would do it this way: “The worst mistake that I have done was when I did not care for Mother Nature. I became oblivious; I was hurting her. I threw garbage anywhere. I never even planted trees. I was never loud about the plight of our environment.”

I, as a Homo sapien, have forgotten that the earth is the only home I’ve got. I even forgot that I have been the main cause of the earth’s problems. I have even become absent-minded that my mistakes, laziness and greed have caused destructions to nature. We humans haven’t been a creator, only a destroyer.

One immediate concern the world has been facing these past few years is global warming. We all know that it is the amplification of heat on the surface of the earth which resulted from burning of fuels, indiscriminate disposal of non-biodegradable wastes, forest destructions, etc. Doesn’t our conscience bother us whenever we cut trees? Don’t we feel any guilt when we throw our garbage anywhere?

Now, the ones suffering are the human beings, simply because of their own making. People nowadays are savoring the wrath of Mother Nature — melting ice caps, increasing water levels, earthquakes, forests fires, heat wave, extremely dangerous tsunamis like the one that hit Japan last March earlier this year that caused more than 10,000 lives to perish. Lastly, typhoons and heavy rainfalls resulting to life-threatening floods; like the one that happened in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City on the early dawn of December 17, 2011. The typhoon which was named “Sendong” raged as it passes the two cities of Northern Mindanao wiping the houses out along its way, properties were also destroyed. Private owned cars, public jeepneys, trucks and vehicles were carried and turned upside-down by the strong current of the flood caused by the typhoon.  The current was fortified by the massive amount of mud carried by the water as it flowed downhill. The saddest thing about the calamity is, hundreds of lives were taken and mostly, children were the victims of the typhoon “Sendong.” 

Over the last four decades, the two cities haven’t encountered such strong typhoons and it was such an unexpected tragedy to happen. Residents of Iligan City never thought the flood would take place since according to some residents of the said city; the rain had stopped before the flood raged. Now, the National Bureau of Investigation reported 1,000+ casualties. Furthermore, NBI said that the main cause of the flash flood is illegal cutting of trees of the neighboring provinces of the two cities.

There is only one way to solve all of these. Let us be sensitive! Let us love Mother Nature so that we’ll not lose the one we love. Let us help one another. Let’s have unity among us. Let us learn to love our only home, the earth. Let this be our tribute to the loving memories of the victims and especially to Mother Nature.

As my personal response to Mother Nature’s plight, from now on, I’ll be very careful about disposing my garbage — an application of what I’ve learned from my Science classes – Re-use, Reduce and Recycle (3R’s). The 3T’s as well: Tree planting, Tree caring and Tree growing. At least, in my own little way, I can say, “I care!”

What about you?

Discipline? In writing?

Even before the early inhabitants of the world learned to speak, they have already communicated through writing symbols on the stones, caves, trees and etc.. And over the last thousand years up to the present, the process of writing is improving continuously giving us the access to express our thoughts, ideas and ourselves in a variety of ways.

Hence, as humans, we need to learn these variety of ways since writing is an invisible link that connects us all in a very unique way. As they say, writing is an outlet of our expression that cannot be expressed verbally. In accordance with the degree I'm pursuing, i have to know all the things that are inter-related to writing. I need to be acquainted with what writing is all about. Above all, I need and I have to know what writing in the discipline is all about.

Writing in the discipline? How?

It's the very first question that came into my mind because since I was in elementary and in high school, the things that accustomed myself about writing are: writing compositions have three paragraphs which are the introduction, body and the conclusion; that writing composition should be correctly indented; and that it should have proper. It never came into my consciousness that there is discipline in writing. But what is writing in the discipline anyway?

Unknowingly, I answered  my own question. I presumably said to myself that it is writing with discipline, as in literally! I even thought that students have to write with a straight sitting position, that students have to write legibly, but all that presumptions are wrong. And it was just a few days ago that I knew what writing in the discipline is really all about.

Writing in the discipline is writing a composition where we follow a set of standards. It's writing where we need to create a formal written composition that has the qualities of a well-written paragraph such as unity, coherence, emphasis and order. It's writing where we follow the basic steps of writing and it's writing in the discipline.

So to speak honestly, I have this thought in my head that I won't be able to seize and comprehend completely what this course subject is about unless I sink myself into it. Unless I study it and most of all, unless I learn it.

For you, what is writing in the discipline?

Trying to get a grab about blogging..

Oh my!
Honestly, it's my first time to create my blog and I'm trying to get a grab about blogging. Right now, I have a very big question mark written all over my face of what to post first in my blog. The ideas are constantly rushing into my mind making me confused or, is it just really me who is confused?
Nevertheless, I'd like to thank my teacher in English2 because without this task given by her, I would never know about all this blogging-thing. Thanks Ma'am!
I'm excited of how will this blogging of mine turn out, whether I'll be good at this or not.

Anyway, it's good to have this blog. A link where we are expose to the modern technology. A link where we get to know someone and a link where it invisibly connects us all. Hope to blog  with you people!