THE PHILIPPINES IN THE EYE OF THE STORM

Date of Arrival: 8 November 2013.

International Code Name: Haiyan.

Local Alias: Yolanda.

Impact: 4,000 dead. 12 Million Filipinos displaced. 2 provinces decimated. 27 areas affected. 
  

AP Photo/US Naval Research Lab

     The Philippines is a disaster-prone country, frequented by at least 20 typhoons in a year.  This storm unfortunately caught many Filipinos in a state of shock. We knew it was coming but nobody expected that it would come to the Philippines with a “bang”--- a very destructive “bang.”

And so the images during and after the storm presented by the local and international media are disturbing and shocking. It was indeed a super-typhoon or a terror-typhoon--- either of which represents the horrifying experiences of people who have experienced the storm surge and their grim suffering after surviving it.  The storm apparently existed to serve its purpose well--- and it in fact, became the ‘strongest recorded typhoon’ in the world.

I was in Beijing when the storm slammed in Central Visayas.  I saw footages of the storm on local Chinese television.  I heard some news about it on Chinese radio. But it was not enough. In China, there is no CNN, no Facebook. no Youtube. Very few updates.

I took the Philippine Airlines flight back to Manila and instantly I requested for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Reading through all of the reports gave me a sense of the gravity of the storm and the catastrophe it caused. I was really disturbed by the images. But I was more affected by the stories of survival and heroism. And after reading all the stories of the front page, I cried…

AP Photo by Bullit Marquez

The Philippines has an unfortunate fate of being situated in the Pacific Rim of Fire where typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other calamities are the norm. But the country is fortunately home to a very resilient and resourceful people who have suffered through all these tragedies and still managed to cope with life- as positively as possible. 

Despite the death… Despite the destruction… Despite the devastation…

Bangon Pilipinas! Ahon Pinoy! Tulong Na, Tabang Na!

These will be the battle cry of every Filipino for fellow Filipinos.

Amidst such catastrophe, I have always been proud to say that indeed, the Filipino Spirit is weather proof.