Wrestling with the Wind (Part 3 of 3)

Oh great, this third and last part got postponed for a long enough period to have two more super typhoons pass the country, with the latest, Reming (Durian to the rest of the world), almost threatened another destructive episode right here in Metro Manila. In fact another one is upon the Philippines, Seniang (Utor to the rest of the world), threatening a deluge to compensate for its not-so-strong winds.

Rants

Back to Reming, good thing this latest cloud spiral of doom decided to change course. Else the metropolis will once again get plunged to darkness. Once again the massive power failure would affect the water supply for most parts. How long would another round of deprivation last? Nine days also? Two weeks? When Naga City was struck by Milenyo, with greater intensity than Metro Manila, mind you, they got their electricity back in two to three days. This "provincial city", like other "provincial cities", beat any NCR city by days in fully restoring power to their constituents. How's that for "Imperial Manila"? They can't even back their haughtiness up!

In fact, Meralco kept proclaiming in the news, after more than a week, that they got their systems 99% restored. Was this godforsaken kilometers long stretch of darkness and dryness along C5 composed mostly of military housing and squatters a mere 1% for them? One percent of income I presume? Let all of them suffer, Meralco must have implied when they de-prioritized repair in those areas, as punishment for them having some people that had stolen the cables that would have made the restoration work a lot easier, faster, cheaper, cheaper and cheaper. Let them suffer, these people who had, for the longest time, connected illegally to the grid. What kind of reasoning is that? It's like Globe refusing to repair a bombed-out cellsite because the people in that area have allowed the NPA to flourish or cutting the signal around an area because of too much fraudulent activities. At the very least you do not hear Globe whine openly in media about such NPA-infested areas, and proclaim them de-prioritized. So Meralco is more "honest" then? It's not that I would condone the stealing of the cables and electricity, but should we law-abiding citizen's whose only real fault was to be neighbors with these lowlifes be made to suffer as well? Should we who refused to participate in the orgy of stealing be accused of condoning them? Why not recognize that we are helpless as well, that we can be threatened by these thieves into submission.

That was just for the electrical shortage, but what irked me more was the loss of water. Electricity had only been harnessed by humanity for no more than 200 years, but water has been part of human existence ever since the start. Thus the need for it is greater, more primordial. Water entrepreneurs made a killing with their delivery services for the nine days we had no water. I have no beef with them. Even if they jack their prices up I understood them for they are merely following supply-and-demand tenets. Besides, they are doing honest labor as they pedal around the complex and carry liters up the stairs. What raised my blood pressure was our housing administration that had no qualms of violating laws just to earn a few tens of thousands of bucks per day aside from their usual racket of additional charges for every utility that enters the housing complex. Some wise guy in their hierarchy had the great idea of wrenching open the fire hydrants in our neighborhood. Then they charged hapless residents of a few pesos per gallon with the reasoning that these hydrants pass through their meters. Bullshit! The mere fact that these hydrants had water while the water pipes in the housing complex were dry as a desert makes that assertion doubtful. Besides, these are fire hydrants, to be used by firefighters in case there's a fire. These lucky bastards should be thankful nobody raised this charging of water from a hydrant to the Bureau of Fire Protection. Why not power instead the pumps of the housing complex with generators, wise guy? Oh, that would be costly; all the profit from the rackets will be lost. Yeah you're a wise guy indeed, asshole!

You've noticed I haven't talked about billboards yet. That's because it's the one topic that has been talked to death in public. I'd rather talk about the fallen trees, and fallen lampposts. See how much of those trees were shallowly-planted in some half-hearted attempt to comply with environmental or aesthetic standards, which were feeble in the first place. Similarly, the shallowly-planted lampposts on the other hand are testaments to half-hearted--no, heartless public service (read the book Pork and Other Perks to find out what I mean). Well as for the billboards, I've been observing the humongous one in Guadalupe. Its first ad after Milenyo displayed the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It reminded me of how people turn to God once they start feeling their mortality. The next ad, after the billboard reduced its height by about two meters, had Manny Pacquiao on it. So, they'll fight it out now, huh. When Pacquiao furled up under the threat of Reming, the next ad to be unfurled declares the "power of beauty" or something. Great shades of Imelda!

It really was good that Reming changed course. It's not so much the natural disasters that make me bristle, but the man-made disasters that follow it.

Sermon

It makes me think on how Sodom and Gomorrah was actually destroyed. Was it the raining of fire and brimstone that destroyed those cities? Or could it be how the people reacted afterwards that did them in? Maybe that was why Lot was not allowed by God to look back at the city while it was being destroyed. Maybe God did not want Lot's eyes to be defiled by witnessing what the people were doing to each other and not by what the fire and brimstone was doing to the city.

But there is hope. Remember what God promised to Abraham while the patriarch was bargaining with Him about the fate of the sinful city? God said that as long as a few good people remain, the city will be spared. Same thing with Nineveh, when the people changed their ways after hearing from Jonah, the city was spared. Again, before that, didn't Jonah give up on Nineveh upon learning of the prophecy? Could've Jonah seen a cataclysm that was inevitable, like a tsunami, a typhoon, a meteor barrage? Perhaps disaster still visited Nineveh, but because the people have changed, those who survived managed to rise up after the calamity by sheer power of a true community rather than succumb to selfish interests and ultimately, destruction.

Perspective

You think Metro Manila's experience of Milenyo was bad? Remember that it is usually the Bicol Region that faces the full power of a typhoon fresh from gathering power over the Pacific Ocean. And in Bicol, it is usually the province of Catanduanes that has the unwanted privilege of being the first province to meet the howler head-on. Furthermore, being in a remote area, the aftermath could be something like this.

In the aftermath of Reming, this region's unfortunate circumstance has been highlighted once again. This latest super typhoon might rival Rosing in terms of the destruction it has wrought in Naga. But more than that is the tragedy bestowed upon the neighboring province of Albay. It was less than half a year ago that the people in charge have handled with flying colors the disaster mitigation in the light of a restive Mayon Volcano. It is frustrating now that they are left with about 500 dead (possibly more) from the sliding of volcanic debris from the otherwise beautifully inclined slopes of the volcano. As if, in some sinister improvisation, Mt. Mayon was merely waiting for a typhoon with diluvial rains to dislodge the debris it earlier deposited on its slopes, in the end the mystical volcano again pulled a fast one on them.

Help them please, please.


Other parts of the series:
1 2 3