Spirit of Pinoy Brotherhood After the Flash Floods

The recent typhoon, 'Ondoy,' which rendered Metro Manila underwater for the past few days, brought out the best in Filipinos--that spirit of Pinoy brotherhood when everyone becomes family and strangers cease to be so.

For instance, I and my wife formed a flood relief team of our own initiative to serve our community. We solicited food, clothing, and blankets from nearby businesses spared by the flood, re-packed these goods, and distributed them to the flood victims in our vicinity and nearby communities. Some 250 plus families were helped by God's grace and mercy.

The businesses, owned by Filipino-Chinese businessmen, readily and willingly gave donations. A rice dealer gave 50 sacks to the barangay and 2 sacks to us. A hardware dealer gave us 5 sacks of rice, shirts, and canned goods. Another hardware dealer gave us packs of instant noodles. People from everywhere gave us used clothes and blankets. A district denominational church gave us 25 packs of goods.

I have some pictures of our relief operations, which was church-based, saved in my PC. I wish I could post it here. The flood victims were even laughing as they received goods--keeping up a high spirit amid devastation. Hundreds of similar relief teams have been formed in and around the metropolis to gather relief goods and distribute to victims. These were formed with self-initiative and with the determination to help brother Filipinos. I marvel at some showbiz personalities who went out of their way to serve the masses in evacuation centers who were in bad need of help. I heard that some even swam across flooded areas to rescue people and dogs. Some lent their resources for use in the rescues.

In the community where we served for 3 days, Parkway Village, several kids and adults died of drowning. The flood waters rose high within seconds up to 20 feet, submerging houses 2 to 3 floors high. And we're talking of raging flood waters here that easily washed away cars and trucks and piled them on top of each other!

A second typhoon said to be stronger that 'Ondoy' is coming and will soon hit northern Luzon within hours from now (it's October 1, 2009, 8.30 pm).

But we're always positive about surviving disasters. Pinoys are known to easily recover from catastrophes by relying on God's mercy and grace. We believe in loving our neighbors as ourselves.