*ORGANIZED CHAOS: free firewood for the people of Tubao, courtesy of typhoon Cosme
I am a person with so many passions but have so little time to pursue them all. My constant struggle against mediocrity is among those. I dread the ordinary, the mundane, the middling, the stereotypical… I find it ironic to live in a place like Tubao to yearn for the best or the things that could satisfy my erudition. Yet I find solace in this place to reflect on my own flaws of which I could certainly share as a common denominator with every other person on this planet.
I don't mind living in Tubao as long as I have my wireless internet and satellite television to distract me from its lethargy, yet I could not help noticing the often familiar but intriguing passions of its people in pursuing their own personal battles as they face them everyday.
When typhoon Cosme (kapigsaan diay a bagyo a napootak) battered La Union and other neighboring provinces almost two weeks ago, I thought a lot of people in Tubao would end up like those helpless people in Myanmar (Burma) who were also recently been battered by an almost equally powerful cyclone.
The typhoon caught us by surprise. Nobody expected it would hit us that soon since people were still nursing a hangover from the week-long fiesta. In fact, that late afternoon of the 17th when the typhoon came, they were still preparing for the balikbayan night. Sapay nakasaganan ken nakasukaten dagiti D.I. (dance instructors) ti balikbayan a mahilig ti ballroom dancing. Napaway met lakay! The fiesta ended in disaster.
It was a long and fierce night… the sound of flying debris from falling trees, bamboo shacks and roofs competed with the howling wind and rain. I was hounded by paranoia if our roof would also be blown away and destroy the only shelter that protected us. Images of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans started to haunt me. I was petrified. I was wondering if Tubao would ever recover from such a disaster.
The typhoon left as soon as it came. By 5 o’clock on the following morning, it was over. As daylight started to illuminate the heap of destruction left by the typhoon, reality sunk in. Streets were littered with debris from almost every species of foliage in our area, fallen trees, electric posts, branches, leaves, metal roofs, capiz window panels, cable wires etc. There has been no electricity since the afternoon of the 17th, and judging by the extent of the damage on the infrastructure (electric posts, cables, roads, bridges, residential houses, buildings) it would take a longer period before power could be fully restored. As of this writing there are still many areas that don’t have electricity, especially in far barangays including the municipality of Rosario, some parts of Agoo, Sto. Tomas and a large part of Pangasinan.
Astoundingly, there was something I noticed in the middle of the ensuing chaos. I was amazed at the resilience of the common folks – as soon as daybreak came they began to pick up the pieces of their ordinary lives the typhoon destroyed and left behind. Some started fixing their roofs that had been blown away, others started to gather the fallen branches of trees for their firewood while several others foraged for useful debris that could be used to patch up their broken shacks and homes. People didn’t wait for rescue or assistance from government agencies unlike in U.S. where medical rescue and disaster relief teams would come. In the Philippines, nothing will come. People rescue and help themselves. By the end of the day, the streets were cleared, leaves and debris were swept and burned, roofs were fixed and life goes on…
I am a person with so many passions but have so little time to pursue them all. My constant struggle against mediocrity is among those. I dread the ordinary, the mundane, the middling, the stereotypical… I find it ironic to live in a place like Tubao to yearn for the best or the things that could satisfy my erudition. Yet I find solace in this place to reflect on my own flaws of which I could certainly share as a common denominator with every other person on this planet.
I don't mind living in Tubao as long as I have my wireless internet and satellite television to distract me from its lethargy, yet I could not help noticing the often familiar but intriguing passions of its people in pursuing their own personal battles as they face them everyday.
When typhoon Cosme (kapigsaan diay a bagyo a napootak) battered La Union and other neighboring provinces almost two weeks ago, I thought a lot of people in Tubao would end up like those helpless people in Myanmar (Burma) who were also recently been battered by an almost equally powerful cyclone.
The typhoon caught us by surprise. Nobody expected it would hit us that soon since people were still nursing a hangover from the week-long fiesta. In fact, that late afternoon of the 17th when the typhoon came, they were still preparing for the balikbayan night. Sapay nakasaganan ken nakasukaten dagiti D.I. (dance instructors) ti balikbayan a mahilig ti ballroom dancing. Napaway met lakay! The fiesta ended in disaster.
It was a long and fierce night… the sound of flying debris from falling trees, bamboo shacks and roofs competed with the howling wind and rain. I was hounded by paranoia if our roof would also be blown away and destroy the only shelter that protected us. Images of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans started to haunt me. I was petrified. I was wondering if Tubao would ever recover from such a disaster.
The typhoon left as soon as it came. By 5 o’clock on the following morning, it was over. As daylight started to illuminate the heap of destruction left by the typhoon, reality sunk in. Streets were littered with debris from almost every species of foliage in our area, fallen trees, electric posts, branches, leaves, metal roofs, capiz window panels, cable wires etc. There has been no electricity since the afternoon of the 17th, and judging by the extent of the damage on the infrastructure (electric posts, cables, roads, bridges, residential houses, buildings) it would take a longer period before power could be fully restored. As of this writing there are still many areas that don’t have electricity, especially in far barangays including the municipality of Rosario, some parts of Agoo, Sto. Tomas and a large part of Pangasinan.
Astoundingly, there was something I noticed in the middle of the ensuing chaos. I was amazed at the resilience of the common folks – as soon as daybreak came they began to pick up the pieces of their ordinary lives the typhoon destroyed and left behind. Some started fixing their roofs that had been blown away, others started to gather the fallen branches of trees for their firewood while several others foraged for useful debris that could be used to patch up their broken shacks and homes. People didn’t wait for rescue or assistance from government agencies unlike in U.S. where medical rescue and disaster relief teams would come. In the Philippines, nothing will come. People rescue and help themselves. By the end of the day, the streets were cleared, leaves and debris were swept and burned, roofs were fixed and life goes on…
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