Monday, September 28, 2009

Christmas Day after the Floods

It was like Christmas morning.
The streets were clear. There was a chill as the wind blew. And by the truckload, food has been pouring endlessly.
But it was not Christmas at all.

I was riding the MRT on the morning after Ondoy.
And lo, as my eyes beheld the rain-drenched and empty streets of EDSA, I almost heard it screaming silently due to the tragedy it overcame that fateful Saturday.

I don't know if i would feel lucky or miserable because of what happened. By default, i woke up at 12 noon that day, only to find out that the rains from the past night have not subsided. Because of this, I couldn't but stay home and even rejoice because we had no classes that afternoon. But then, as the news, and the waters came pouring in, I realized that this was not like the other rain i had witnessed in my lifetime. It was unstoppable. It was dark. It was angry.

You see, I wasnt that accustomed to floods. That's because our street has been "flood-proof" until now. When i was younger, i would watch the news and look at videos of the knee-high, waist-high, and chest-high floods in places like valenzuela, pasig, malabon and those infamous flood-prone areas, and never thought that something close would happen to us. But that morning, when i received the news that outside our gates, the waters were ankle-deep, i panicked.

It was a long afternoon that followed.

People had nowhere to go, stranded on top of their roofs. I too had nowhere to go, stranded in the comfort of my bed.
People were cold under the rain. I too was cold to the people - my facebook status still bearing the memories of the hangover from the night before.
People were waiting for help - some, for help that would come 29 hours later. I was waiting for my mom and dad, who went shopping for emergency goodies.

And when the rains stopped that evening, i felt an utter wave of disgust.
A disgust with myself as i saw the tragic pictures, the videos and the messages of my friends on the internet.

Where was I? How could I? Why did I?

Living inside warm cement walls on top of a metropolitan hill does not mean that we always end up on the winning end of a natural disaster such as this. On the outside, it may seem that way. But deep inside, there is a sense of loss. A loss of a responsibility. A responsibility I did not stand up to. A responsibility i totally ignored.

With this blog, I hope I can regain my responsibility over my fellowmen. Today, i will push myself to answer to that. I have alot of clothes to give, alot of food to spare (talk about the fulfillment of my long-awaited diet!), and alot of prayers to pray.

And maybe when i answer to this responsibility, it would really feel like Christmas day after all.