a rainbow after a tragedy

(a beautiful rainbow appeared in tacloban days after yolanda hammered the coastal city (and parts of the visayas), flattened houses and buildings, claimed lives and ravaged the once bustling capital of leyte.)

of course we all love our lessons. don't we? since we were kids, we were taught to learn from anything -- fairy tales, a bad injury after crashing our bicycles, an accident that included falling off a tree, leaving our coloring pencils at home, doing poorly in an oral or written exams because we opted to watch teevee instead of studying our lessons.

nobody can underestimate the value of lessons. we live, we learn. if we don't learn anything from anything, then we are better off dead. nobody wants to live as a zombie.

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more than a week after the strongest typhoon to ever hit the earth crashed all our dreams, mahatma gandah hopes for our sakes that we learned something valuable from that nightmare.

countless lives were lost, properties were gone, but we can always pick up the pieces and start to rebuild anew. the task ahead maybe difficult, but we have no choice. if you are a firm believer, then rest assured that someone else will come along to share your burden and help you carry that heavy cross on the way to salvation.

- when all else fails, just pray.

this may sound corny coming from me, who is so totally not religious. but i have always been spiritual. i believe that there are stronger forces, more powerful beings around us that are willing to help if only we believe in them. i always count on them and so far, they never failed me. they're always there when i call, even if sometimes they arrived when i was almost about to give up.

- after all that's been said and done, we are all humans. 

even the president, with all the resources behind him, seemed overwhelmed, paralyzed by shock, and agitated by the extent of the damage, wreckage, devastation and the number of lives lost to yolanda. i still believe that the president and the public officials are not so heartless as to make life even more difficult for the victims. that at the bottom of their hearts, they are willing to help.

mar roxas said it best when he admitted that a day after the storm, they (his team from the government tasked to make sure that the calamity would have minimal impact on lives and properties) felt helpless and could not control their tears because all they could offer to the victims and the survivors at that time were assurances that help was on the way. (because all means of communications and transportations were paralyzed, the local government was crippled, they could not do anything else even if they wanted to do more. now i get that.)

just like my hong kong-based friend, i still believe that the government was just overwhelmed by the whole thing, that it never expected the enormity of the task ahead that's why despite trumpeting its preparedness days ahead, it was not able to send help immediately.

i still laud the government officials who were on the ground since day zero to monitor the situation, give hope and update us on what's going on. that alone was enough to be thankful for.

having said that:

-i still don't understand why on day three, or four, there were still no relief goods being distributed, why most roads remained impassable, why looting continued, why the national government did not mobilize all its resources to help leyte and samar? and on day five or six, scores of dead bodies remained on the streets, left to rot and stink?

-i still don't get it why the president, who flew to tacloban to supposedly get a better picture of the situation and perhaps offer solace and comfort to the victims and the survivors instead threw a fit, embarrassed a businessman who complained of looting, played the blame game, and then walked out of the news conference like a petulant child who was not allowed to eat a box of chocolates.

-i still don't understand why the police in nearby towns in samar and the army in catbalogan (where the regional headquarters is situated) were not ordered to go to tacloban right away to restore order? i used to live inside the military camp and i know for a fact that there are helicopters and six by six trucks inside the camp that could be used for emergency situations.

and why did the government (both on the national and local level), even the media, failed to explain in plain language, in words that can be understood by the people what storm surge means? instead of reporters trying to risk their lives by being "brave" and reporting live on the streets at the height of the typhoon, they could have been more useful if they tried explaining in simple language what storm surge means and warned the people to stay as far away as possible from the sea.  as it turned out, the relocation site chosen by the local government of tacloban was right beside the sea, causing the death of thousands who sought shelter there to supposedly keep them safe from the storm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-lastly, i still don't get it why reporters scrambled to become the news instead of reporting about the slow arrival of relief goods, the government's incompetence. instead, it took cnn to let the whole world know what the victims and survivors have been complaining about since day one -- the absence of any organized relief operations, the lack of coordination between government agencies, the absence of food, water, medicines, temporary shelter, etc. etc. etc. etc!!!!!!!!!!!


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- sometimes, help (in my case messages of solidarity) will come from the most unexpected sources. 

colleagues from other parts of the world back from my reuters and even bloomberg days sent "hope you and your family are safe" messages after the typhoon. those messages were special considering that i have not heard from them for a loooong time, while those whom i expected to be among the firsts to send those messages didn't even bother. i can't blame them though. they are probably too busy.

we also would not expect that even the poorest countries in the world sent aid to the philippines, among them bangladesh. but they did. god bless them.

- any calamity will bring the world closer.

it's heartwarming to note that countries and governments all over the world have set aside their differences and issues for a while and instead focused on helping the philippines. with their help, we can rebuild all that we have lost. it may take time, but we will.

- politicians will always indulge in politics no matter what. a few of them are competent, but sadly most of them are inutile and are in politics just for the perks that go with being in power.

-despite everything else, everyone just wants to help.

- an ounce of humanity and understanding will go a long, long way.

- on a personal note, when there's a storm, it's always sink or swim. only real friends stay.

you cannot rely on even your so-called friends to help you. most of these "friends" are there only when times are good, but when the sailing gets rough, expect them to slowly disappear, to always be busy when you need them most. only the few real ones will be left. so i am letting these fair weather friends go, while cherishing the rare few ones who stayed behind, who keep on pouring their love and support without expecting anything in return. those who care without any hidden agenda.

i don't want to sound bitter, but in a way i am thankful that the series of bad lucks that came into my life this year enabled me to discern who are the people who really care.

sometimes, just a  simple, sincere short shout out, a text message asking how's your family in tacloban or catbalogan is all you need. 

but i am not mad. like i said, maybe they are busy. i totally get that!

and lastly, a very miss universe thought:
at the end of every storm, there's always a beautiful rainbow that will remind us all that despite what happened, life is still worth living for.


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pardon me, but so far these are the only things that i could think of. if you have your own list, please don't hesitate to share.

that's all fairies, bitches, witches, queens and wannabes.

god bless us all!