Have you seen the news? Take a look at this photo from Dumaguete:
From Dumaguete Metro Post's FB: Dumaguete Rescuers hold on to a rope as they form a human chain to rescue 32 passengers and crew, including an infant, of ill-fated M/V Ever Transport III, which sank after running aground off sitio Canday-ong, barangay Calindagan, Dumaguete City at 4 a.m. Saturday, after it was battered by big waves brought about by Tropical Storm Sendong. (photos by Melissa Alexandra B. Pal) [as reposted in FB by my journalist friend Inday Espina Varona]
And this aerial shot of Cagayan De Oro:
Aerial View of Cagayan de Oro City during the wrath of Typhoon Sendong. Video courtesy of National Grid Corporation
of the Philippines (NGCP)... Capt. Israel Ranario (pilot) and Mr. Emmanuel D. Abellanosa, Head,
Mindanao Operations and Maintenance
What a weekend this has been. Many dead. Swept away by flash floods. Been texting my good friend KK who just went home to Dumaguete last Friday. She's okay but her relatives in CDO have another story to tell, one that's similar to my own relatives' tales in Provident Village circa 2009.
This was our version of that:
A view from where I live, September 2009. Cars floated like rafts.News. Old news, new news. Same same, different location, similar devastation. Ondoy then, Sendong now. No need to tell you about that. (But if you're curious, this was my account of that, plus this update for my relatives abroad). I tell you, it's still traumatic for us here in Marikina sometimes. I still secretly panic whenever there are strong rains.
I was just there in CDO last June, but only in passing on our way to the Iligan City PBB auditions where I volunteered as a writer-interviewer. My first time visiting those cities, and I vowed to return to CDO sometime to explore more, since it looked really promising. Iligan was another city totally devastated by this onslaught. So sad. And of course, I don't need to tell you how relevant Dumaguete is in the hearts of literary writers in English who have been to the Silliman workshops, myself included. So yes, this is indeed sad.
I was planning on blogging another thing today, actually since yesterday, but of course bigger things like this news of the weekend makes my concerns a tad irrelevant and, to a certain degree, insignificant.
Funny how life shows you what's important. So we'll park that thought for now, and blog about it some other time.
In the meanwhile, those of you who subscribe to worshiping a deity or supreme being, please pray for my countrypeople in the Visayas region. They need all the help now. Search the Philippine Red Cross for details on how to help. Many other avenues are accepting help.
No comments:
Post a Comment