This is what I read to my fellow blogger who affected in flash floods in Cagayan de Oro City. He so disappointed to our local government even the President in this country. What I would like to express this post is that there is no action that came from our government from Manila. I heard that they will give funds for Nothern Mindanao for those people and family who affected in this tragedy but when they will give this fund? If the affected families are died? or they will put this funds in there pocket for their family? How stupid this kind of people. That’s money is not yours it’s for the KAGAY-ANONS. Please read post below for the blogger who affected the flash floods in Cagayan de Oro and was so disappointed to the President. This post is from kimquilinguing. By the way Chiq Montes is asking for your kindness to help our KABABAYAN here in Cagayan de Oro. Just donate $3 to help the victims in Cagayan de Oro via paypal. To read more about the donation you can read this post.
For Donation:
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Grabe ang bha sa amu!
Lampas sa ulo! Sulod n 2big sa amu balay bsag gamay r n ulan.
Aq nga relatives naa nay naanod ug missing.
Cla lolo ug lola wla na nakakaya sa k2gnaw.
Amu nlang gbyaan.
Naa me krun nikatkat s mga punuan para dli maabot sa 2big.
Unsa na ba ni!
-amigas
Such was the text message I received from my brother Abe this morning. It may be a joke on ants and their experiences during rains by the way it was ended, but the lines speak truthfully of the experience of 30,000 people who have been displaced by the floods in Northern Mindanao, particularly Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and Gingoog.
But who cares?
Since January 3, 2009 Cagayan de Oro has been ravaged by cloud outburst and flash floods along the Cagayan de Oro River. Several portions of Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental and Iligan City were also affected by the continuous rains which caused the sudden rupture of the rivers and other bodies of water in these cities. Around 25,000 persons were affected by the flash floods. Among those who were evacuated were my relatives of mine who were living in Baranggay Macasandig and along the Cagayan de Oro River in downtown Burgos Street.
Again, who cares?
Ramdam Arroyo went to visit the victims on January 6 for some photo-ops while distributing temporal meager support to the evacuees. Yet aside from casting fake smiles while distributing food and other needs to the victims of the flood, she did not make any pronouncement on the mining activities in the hinterland areas around Cagayan de Oro. Nor did she make any statement regarding the illegal logging operations in the ARMM areas and in Bukidnon which are along the tributaries of the Cagayan de Oro River. Of course she was there only for the cosmetic smiles, the prefabricated empathic forlorn face, and the choreographed distribution of assistance goods.
Since then the rains have never ceased in Cagayan de Oro. My parents and my brother regularly communicated with me about the continuous rains and their fears of the possible rise in the water level of the Iponan River (which was just about 50 meters from our home). The Iponan River is Cagayan de Oro’s western boundary with Opol, Misamis Oriental, Iponan being the westernmost baranggay of the City.
During the week, aside from constantly communicating with my family, I was among many who were affected by the news developments in the country-The Alabang Boys fiasco, the Pangandaman brothers’ assault on the de la Paz family, and the Israeli indiscriminate assault against Hamas and Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Of the three, I was more involved in discussions with friends and acquaintances on the Invasion of Gaza. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jews, and Arabs have always been one of my interests since my high school days. This is largely due to my having a mix of both Jewish and Arabic names. I had so much discussion with different people that I have had a mix of very vigorous adversarial discussions with progressive students and more balanced discussions with humanists and romantics through Multiply. But nobody talked about the floods in Northern Mindanao.
And again, who cares?
Then Sunday came, as early as 8AM my mother and brother called me up to tell me that they were leaving our home due to the increasing level of the Iponan River and the unceasing rains. They were afraid that the river control systems would give away and the flood waters would reach our home.
By lunchtime, my mother and brother were on a 6 x 6 military truck full of evacuees from our area in Baranggay Bulua, Cagayan de Oro. My mother was at the front seat, while my brother was hanging for dear life at the back. My father decided to stay at our house and assess the situation before making a decision. At 4PM, I suddenly received a message from Papa telling me that he was leaving, and that the river had gone passed the control systems. Awhile later he texted me that he was already on a dumptruck along the flooded national highway, he was apparently caught by surprise that he did have enough time to react, so much so that he forgot to unchain our doggies at the back of our home. There was nothing else we could do for Panday, Tiger, Rexa, Gwapa, and Lyka except pray that the flood waters don’t reach them.
The next day, my parents and Abe went back for the doggies and found them safe on their elevated beds at the back of our home. Thank God. The road was caked in mud, and so was our backyard. The good thing though was that the mud was not able to go into our house. Still Abe, Papa and Mama had to clean the yard, get additional necessities, and prepare the doggies for evacuation. This time they were to be brought to safer and drier land. Of course all these would not be possible had it not been for Faith’s assistance in making their multi-cab available for the use of our family.
My family (Papa, Mama, Abe, and the doggies) stayed at my Auntie Nieva’s house at Burgos-Abellanosa Street for the night. A week earlier, it was Auntie Nieva who was threatened with the rise on the water levels of the Cagayan de Oro River. With the fear that the CDO River would rise, the family kept vigil because the rains still had not stopped.
On the thirteenth, Papa returned to the house to continue doing his work. He apparently had a lot of deadlines to meet, and commitments to fulfill. Against my mother’s wishes, Papa decided to stay. The doggies also were brought back to the house. And then the lights went out, the wind blew stronger, and it started to rain. My mother and Abe, fearing another reprise of Sunday’s surprises, went back to rescue my father. This time, the doggies were left in charge of the house for fear of burglars while the family was away. And this time, the doggies were left inside the house, unchained. We have always been used to leaving the doggies inside our house and they have always been trustworthy enough not to cause damage or chaos in the house, so much so that sometimes you find them sitting beside us watching TV, or sleeping on the couch. The family once again went back to Casa Crystalla for the night.
Today, Abe posted his pictures of the disaster. It was only then that I had an idea on what the damage was like sa Dakbayan sa Bulawanong Panaghigalaay or the City of Golden Friendship. There were several people who said that the much of the city was ravaged, so much so that much of it has been caked in mud. Others said that the experience has been very traumatic, while others it was depressing. In our family, the fear of the rise of the river was still very much in their consciousness. This was the reason why they still decided to stay at Casa Crystalla.
Going over the news today, I found out that Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, SJ, DD of Cagayan de Oro said that a total of around 75, 000 persons were displaced by the flashfloods in Northern Mindanao. These include people from Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Gingoog, Balingasag, Naawan, El Salvador, Opol, Alubijid, Initao, Manticao, and Tagoloan. I never thought that the number of victims would reach that high considering that there was little, if not, no coverage or updates on the floods in the national media. If there were reports, these were usually by newspapers.
The TV stations focused on local Manila-centric stories like the Alabang Boys, Ramdam’s appointment of herself as Anti-Drug Czar, the Pangandaman-de la Paz brawl, the death of Erap’s mother, the Leviste conviction, unsubstantiated LPG hoarding, additional rollback in petroleum prices, possible increase in Manila water bills, vehicular accidents along EDSA, highwaymen shot dead in Quezon City, so on and so forth… there was little, if any, news on Northern Mindanao.
Like what was said…who cares?
As a Mindanaoan living in Quezon City, it feels alienating that while my family, relatives (my Uncle Toto, Auntie Bebe, and Joanna also had to evacuate their house at Barra, Opol, Misamis Oriental due to flood waters), and friends are wading through flood waters in the northern part of the Land of Promise, the populace in Imperial Manila couldn’t care less.
Instead they focus on local events which they think have national significance saddled by their belief that whatever concerns Manila concerns the country. Such is the mentality of the average person in Imperial Manila (most notably native Manilans). They are so full of themselves that they forget about the rest of the country.
Going through online discussions and emails I receive from day to day, I noticed that the people here in Imperial Manila have more concern of the victims of the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza than the victims of the floods in Samar, Leyte, Northern Mindanao, and other parts of the country.
This lack of regard for the lives of Filipinos dying and struggling against natural disasters in the provinces is nowhere more profoundly expressed than in the recent appointment of Ramdam of herself as Anti-drug Czar (is this politically correct? wasn’t the female Russian ruler called Czarina?) instead of making a statement which would give assistance to the victims of various floods in the country, restore hope in the distraught victims, and give them the confidence that the government, and by extension, the nation, has not forgotten about them. She has not even declared a state of calamity in the areas affected by the flashfloods.
But of course this apathetic feeling is not the
monopoly of Ramdam. It is shared by many here in Imperial Manila. Even by national public officials, activists, cause oriented groups, and religious organizations. There are no national news coverages, no national fund drives for relief, assistance, and recovery, no donations collection drives, no nothing, and it’s as if nothing huge has happened.
Probably, for the people in Imperial Manila, including the provincials who are here for employment or studies, nothing has happened…
I remember what my friend Peterson Bergado said to me when I asked him why ABS-CBN CDO was not able to break the story as soon as possible despite the fact that they have a local station in Cagayan de Oro (and it was GMA-7 which broke it out despite the absence of a GMA-7 local station in the area). He told me that it is possible that the news teams contacted the Manila desk for the story. But he said, it is also possible that the CDO news team did not cite statistics on the flood which could have given Manila a clearer view of the drowning situation. He added that when reporting floods to Manila, there should be good video and hard facts otherwise they (Manila) might think that the flood being reported is just the same as the staple floods in Manila.
Then again, has it ever occurred that 75,000 people were evacuated from Metro Manila due to flashfloods?
Call me bad, but I should say, that would be quite a view…
I’m so touch in this post while I’m reading it. He try to express his feelings…