I guess we are all guilty of this. Instead of reserving our opinions and giving the benefit of the doubt so to speak, it sometimes is easy to just hurl accusations and judgements left and right. The recent tragedy that struck our nation is one good example.
Our country has been through several crises already and we've proven time and again of our resilience. Despite our flaws and imperfections, the crab mentality, corruption and sometimes shallow-mindedness among others, we, as a nation have managed in our own ways to inspire the world, show them our worth and value and be in the spotlight for good reasons. Reeling from the pork barrel issue, the (staged) armed crisis in Mindanao, the 7.2 earthquake, our country yet again, played host amidst unwillingly to one of the strongest storms ever, Typhoon Haiyan or locally known as Yolanda.
Not surprisingly, this was something the locals have not experienced ever before. Sometimes, it is hard when you grow accustomed to some events that you prepare based only on that knowledge and estimate of the level of worst-case scenario. Unfortunately, it was just that and more but even the most powerful of nations experience disasters of their own. We are powerless when Mother Nature decides to unleash its wrath to us. Seeing the first few videos and pictures to finally come in after some areas have been cut off, it was just so heart-wrenching. We are lucky the heavily congested metro was spared and I can't imagine what kind of damage we would see. I guess the glaring difference between classes might become more evident (i.e. those in concrete high-rises) but then again, who can say? Going back, the amount of loss both material and immaterial although might not appear to be as great (currently the count is still in the hundreds hopefully it won't be that high...) and the trauma that the survivors have to deal, with are hard to imagine.
A family member made this comparison when news of rampant looting not just of the basic necessities were reported. "When the tsunami hit Japan, people were more civilized and no looting were observed. Maybe because they know that their government will help them." The question is: When you have none left and even lost a loved on and there doesn't seem to be any sign that help is on the way, do you just wait it out or try to survive? It is a natural instinct to survive. If there is no power, communication is cut off and supplies are running out, your home was destroyed, what else can you do? We naturally want to go on living and life has to go on. You try to push forward. Obviously, there is loss of order and the devastation left by Yolanda left chaos and destruction in its wake. I am not saying all of their actions are justified. There are other opportunists out there I bet. Yes, we can wish that our countrymen could have taken the higher moral ground and acted more civilized but maybe right now it's a World War Z/Walking Dead out there. To them that is the situation. Let us not be quick to judge on the actions that are now being reported while we sit in our homes twiddling with our smartphones etc. There was a time when intermittent power outages were manageable but imagine that now and many people would complain and whine with our lives so much intertwined with our iOS's and Androids.
I pray that they (those affected) are given the strength, wisdom and courage to live another day. I pray that our government gets their act together, stop the bickering and corruption and be on top of this situation. We can weather a lot of storms better if only we are more effective and united. Help is pouring in but as one friend goes, we have at one point in our lives received the help we badly needed. We can pay it forward, here's some ways how:
1. Donate from any of the different NGOs, some of the well-known ones include:
ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/tulong
GMA Kapuso Foundation: Panawagan mula sa GMA Kapuso Foundation para sa mga nasalanta ng Super Typhoon Yolanda | GMANetwork.com - Foundation - Articles
Philippine Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org.ph/donate.php
others such as World Vision and World Food Programme are also listed in this post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/09/philippines-haiyan-how-to-help-_n_4247106.html
2. Repacking of relief goods for DSWD, Red Cross, UP etc.
DSWD-NROC needs volunteers to repack relief goods now. We are on 24/7 relief ops. Interested may call 8512681 or 09184219780." - twitter.com/dswdserves
Our country has been through several crises already and we've proven time and again of our resilience. Despite our flaws and imperfections, the crab mentality, corruption and sometimes shallow-mindedness among others, we, as a nation have managed in our own ways to inspire the world, show them our worth and value and be in the spotlight for good reasons. Reeling from the pork barrel issue, the (staged) armed crisis in Mindanao, the 7.2 earthquake, our country yet again, played host amidst unwillingly to one of the strongest storms ever, Typhoon Haiyan or locally known as Yolanda.
Not surprisingly, this was something the locals have not experienced ever before. Sometimes, it is hard when you grow accustomed to some events that you prepare based only on that knowledge and estimate of the level of worst-case scenario. Unfortunately, it was just that and more but even the most powerful of nations experience disasters of their own. We are powerless when Mother Nature decides to unleash its wrath to us. Seeing the first few videos and pictures to finally come in after some areas have been cut off, it was just so heart-wrenching. We are lucky the heavily congested metro was spared and I can't imagine what kind of damage we would see. I guess the glaring difference between classes might become more evident (i.e. those in concrete high-rises) but then again, who can say? Going back, the amount of loss both material and immaterial although might not appear to be as great (currently the count is still in the hundreds hopefully it won't be that high...) and the trauma that the survivors have to deal, with are hard to imagine.
A family member made this comparison when news of rampant looting not just of the basic necessities were reported. "When the tsunami hit Japan, people were more civilized and no looting were observed. Maybe because they know that their government will help them." The question is: When you have none left and even lost a loved on and there doesn't seem to be any sign that help is on the way, do you just wait it out or try to survive? It is a natural instinct to survive. If there is no power, communication is cut off and supplies are running out, your home was destroyed, what else can you do? We naturally want to go on living and life has to go on. You try to push forward. Obviously, there is loss of order and the devastation left by Yolanda left chaos and destruction in its wake. I am not saying all of their actions are justified. There are other opportunists out there I bet. Yes, we can wish that our countrymen could have taken the higher moral ground and acted more civilized but maybe right now it's a World War Z/Walking Dead out there. To them that is the situation. Let us not be quick to judge on the actions that are now being reported while we sit in our homes twiddling with our smartphones etc. There was a time when intermittent power outages were manageable but imagine that now and many people would complain and whine with our lives so much intertwined with our iOS's and Androids.
I pray that they (those affected) are given the strength, wisdom and courage to live another day. I pray that our government gets their act together, stop the bickering and corruption and be on top of this situation. We can weather a lot of storms better if only we are more effective and united. Help is pouring in but as one friend goes, we have at one point in our lives received the help we badly needed. We can pay it forward, here's some ways how:
1. Donate from any of the different NGOs, some of the well-known ones include:
ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/tulong
GMA Kapuso Foundation: Panawagan mula sa GMA Kapuso Foundation para sa mga nasalanta ng Super Typhoon Yolanda | GMANetwork.com - Foundation - Articles
Philippine Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org.ph/donate.php
others such as World Vision and World Food Programme are also listed in this post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/09/philippines-haiyan-how-to-help-_n_4247106.html
2. Repacking of relief goods for DSWD, Red Cross, UP etc.
DSWD-NROC needs volunteers to repack relief goods now. We are on 24/7 relief ops. Interested may call 8512681 or 09184219780." - twitter.com/dswdserves
