Hope floats

THIS is the best editorial I've read so far this year. It captures the essence of who we are as Filipinos in a time of tragedy - how we all come together, and give hope to others. It is the Christmas story all over again.

EDITORIAL: Rejoice for a nation reborn
InterAksyon, Dec. 25, 2011

We have heard the good news reprised in various ways, and each story, we have on good account, is true:

The child was found floating on a raft of debris. He was saved by a dog. She clung to a pig until some higher power calmed the seas. He lost his wife and son and daughter and ended up saving, and being saved by, a stranger. Oh, the selflessness and the courage, the triumphant spirituality and enduring faith: The survivors are too busy saving each other to grieve for themselves.

We have heard of the miracles as well as of more numerous tragedies that engulf but all the more give them brilliance, and like wisened men now understanding why every star is surrounded but never denied by the larger night, we know that both light and darkness exist to help us navigate to wherever it is we need to go – and, should we choose to do so, to find our way home.

And so as we had gone, we now come from all corners of the world. Carpenters, sailors, teachers, engineers, nurses, lawyers, farmers, entrepreneurs, doctors, students, mothers, fathers – babes and wise men simultaneously, us all – bearing gifts for every child lifted from carnage.

The pilgrimage for Filipinos this Christmas is to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, and though God knows we are weary of uniting over grief, the nation embraces (yet again) the call to help sift through mud, trash, and logs. We embrace, yet again, the chance to help rebuild lives and homes, with as much zeal as we would curse out the evils that buried, and continue to bury, our compatriots. The corruption, ineptitude and apathy we decry. And then we put even our most jaded side aside to roll up our sleeves for the immediate tasks at hand, which include:

Donating in the face of corruption, working with the notoriously inept, and believing that this time around, nobody is apathetic.

How do we do it? How do we come back again and again, to say there is no hope, and then to show the hope to be as common as a loving parent, as a volunteer from every barangay, as an OFW in every home, as a Facebook account and a cellphone number that’s given up for spreading all things to #HelpCDO? How do we come to be our own best refutation of our most cynical selves?

Perhaps we look to CDO and Iligan as we did to Ormoc and Payatas and every town that drowned with every Ondoy and Pepeng and Ruping. Which is to say, here, all over here, there are as much children and whole families to be rescued and given room in our selfish lives, as there are seeds of hope to be planted in our own hearts. We are tired as a nation, and yet we know that in every tragedy, salvation is not the gift we bring for others, it is the miracle we hope to find for ourselves.

In the end, the wise men of the east got so much more than what they thought they were gifting the child in swaddling clothes. They received license to go home with vision and purpose, to rebuild cities on compassion, selflessness, sacrifice, and dreams shared with others. They received blessing to be reborn as simpler and humbler persons, but more worthy of their own nations, if not of their place in a Kingdom in heaven.

We are stubborn for the opportunity to see our nation reborn, with greater values of vigilance but also sacrifice, compassion, and united purpose. Tragedy that brings us home makes us both the wise men bearing gifts and the babe for which we would like to build a home. We are out to rescue ourselves.

Clap for yourselves, guys!

FILIPINO OF THE YEAR 2009
Ondoy volunteers, donors: Lifesaver to multitudes

THEY WERE LIFESAVERS TO THE multitudes who struggled to keep their heads and hopes above water, whether against the torrents of destruction or the slow currents of despair.

They were the volunteers and donors who, in countless ways, helped the battered populace—and the nation’s downcast spirit—recover from the devastation wrought by Tropical Storm “Ondoy.”

The Inquirer salutes them as the 2009 Filipino of the Year. (Click Inquirer.net for the rest.)

If you still think the branded styro food package was a fake...

...here are a couple of more photos to show how one presidentiable has been taking advantage of the Ondoy tragedy. For security reasons, I cannot reveal the names of the people who took these:

(This photo was taken along Edsa at 2 pm, Saturday, Oct. 10.)

(This was taken during a relief operation in a community in San Mateo, a few days after Ondoy's visit on Sept. 26.)

When photos of the styro food package labeled w/ his name were published in a number of blogs, Sen. Manny Villar denied any knowledge about it, adding that if it had been done by his staff, he didn't authorize it. So you'd think he'd be smart enough to order his staff to refrain from politicking via his relief efforts. Well, apparently he has no control of his own staff. A good president he'd make that's for sure.

Shame on you Sen. Villar for taking advantage of a calamity like Ondoy just to get your mug and name out there!

From my friend's FB status today...how very apt for the times: "So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full." - Matthew 6:2

It takes a village... (updated again, 6:36 pm, Oct. 5)

At the offices of many civic groups and private organizations, hundreds of people showed up to volunteer in packing relief goods or going to evacuation centers to help distribute care packages. At the Tulong Bayan center at the Expo Centro in Cubao, it was heartwarming to note that most of the volunteers were adolescents as young as 10 years old, along with their kuya or ate in high school and college. Many of these kids, as you know, would normally spend their time away from school hanging out at the mall.

They came in huge numbers, many of them barkadas, classmates or siblings, dressed just in their tees and shorts, wearing their Havaianas. All were just enthusiastic to do their share! (Click Something Like Life, BusinessMirror, Oct. 2, 2009 for the rest.)

(Even grade school kids pitched in to help! According to singer/activist Leah Navarro, there were so many volunteers at Tulong Bayan's centers in Cubao and White Space, Pasong Tamo Ext., others were asked to return at later schedules. PHOTOS BY LEAH NAVARRO)

(Volunteers of Tulong Bayan unpack cartons of biscuits.)

(Pass it on, guys. Youth volunteers at the Expo Centro in Cubao move the relief goods for loading into a flatbed truck.)

UPDATED ANNOUNCEMENT (10/05/09): Tulong Bayan has closed its Cubao operations but its operations at White Space, Pasong Tamo Ext., Makati City, continues. Volunteers are most welcome. Donations too of course! Aside from food, we need slippers, underwear for men women and children, basic medicines (paracetamol, anti-diarrhea, disinfectants, etc.), toothpaste and toothbrush, etc. Thank you!

ANNOUNCEMENT 2: For other relief centers needing volunteers, click BayanihanOnline. Thanks!

Here are some photos I took at Tulong Bayan center in Cubao last Thursday, Oct. 2:

(Bags of relief goods for distribution this weekend.)

(Cardboard cartons as beds for the flood victims.)

(Here's how the bed looks up close. It includes a blanket to keep warm.)

(Youth volunteers repack detergents for distribution to evacuation centers.)

ALSO, on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 4:

(More relief goods for distribution, Oct. 4)

(Unpacking biscuits for donations.)

(Making the beds from carton boxes.)


(Sacks of rice to be transported to White Space, where Tulong Bayan's relief efforts continue until Thursday, Oct. 8)

(Boxes of canned tuna on their way to White Space too.)

For foreign donors

PLS. coordinate with the Philippine Embassy/Consulates in your respective areas and the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development for your donations. Click here for the procedures you have to follow to make sure your donations get to the right recipients.

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Gary Teves yesterday released a public advisory via text saying: "the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is now coordinating with the DSWD for the immediate release of used clothes donation from international institutions for the typhoon Ondoy victims. International organizations are advised to donate used clothes directly to DSWD as existing laws (RA 4653) prohibit the importation of used clothes for the Philippines.

* * * *
FYI: Sec. Teves, through his publicist, also informed me that "we will discuss with DSWD [Esperanza] Cabral if she can work with NGOs to faciliate the release of these goods."

I'm sorry, I have no sympathy for you (Updated)

I JUST got off the phone w/ a Cabinet official who called me about my concern regarding donations by foreign groups of used clothing. Apparently, there is a law preventing such imports because of the growing ukay-ukay business in the country.

To go around this law, Malacañang has instructed that donations of used clothing be consigned to DSWD instead. (Upate 11:34: If the DSWD receives the donations, the payment of import taxes are deferred.) I told this Cabinet official that DSWD is overburdened already feeding people in the evacuation centers that's why it's the private sector which is taking up the slack. Why can't Customs or the Dept of Finance just accredit a few charitable foundations of relief organizations to receive these donations from abroad?

"There is a law," he stressed over and over, and they couldn't just violate it. With all the bright legal minds in Malacañang, consigning the goods to the DSWD was the only solution they could think of? This is an effing emergency situation! But when it comes to flouting the laws, our officials are number one! Especially you know who!

The Cabinet official said there were already concerns that some importers are taking advantage of the situation and "nagpupuslit ng contraband". So prosecute them for heaven's sake! Why penalize the rest who have only a sincere desire to help Ondoy's victims?

Then the Cabinet official sighed that he has not been sleeping for six days since Typhoon Ondoy. I don't know what he expected me to say. Should I have said, "kawawa ka naman" and sympathized w/ his lack of sleep? I was stumped. People have lost their homes, family members, friends, lack food and water, and are getting sick in the evac centers...and I was supposed to pity one Cabinet official who was suffering from sleep deprivation? I felt a lump in my throat. I wanted to scream at him and cry at the same time. How dare he!

In the first place, we wouldn't have this many flood victims if only you, the gov't, did your job! I have tried to contain myself from blowing up since Saturday, seeing how NDCC and its head, Defense Sec. Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro blundered their way through the rescue efforts of the flood victims. But privately, I have been fuming on Facebook about how many lives the government could have saved, if only they were prepared for disasters.


(Gibo talks about disaster preparedness. Ptooey!)

Like FEMA director Michael Brown during the Hurricane Katrina disaster in Sept. 2005, Gibo sent out rescue teams only when Ondoy was on its way out of the country. As early as 1 pm on Sat. Sept 26, residents of Marikina were already hunched on their roofs, waiting to be rescued! Gibo eventually sent in the much-ridiculed 13 rubber boats (mostly from the Phil. Navy) to the flooded areas at 10 pm!

By midnight, Marikina residents were texting DZMM that President Arroyo had arrived "para magpapakitang tao." The victims who were cold, hungry, and missing their families were not fooled by her fake concern. What makes our blood boil is knowing that the presidentita used up P800 million of the contingency/disaster fund for her foreign travels! How many rescue boats could have been bought w/ that money?

Now we realize even more how stupid this government really is! They can't even get their acts together to decide whether or not Malacañang should be an evacuation/relief center. They can't even come up w/ a simple plan or legal document to temporarily lift relief the ban on donated used clothing? Right now, I've received reports of Customs agents seizing ALL shipments of donations at our ports! People abroad are willing to help our flood victims here. And yet all the govt can come up w/ is even more red tape! Anoba?!

Now, in preparation for Typhoon Parma (local codename Pepeng), disaster czar Teodoro wants to forcibly evacuate minors only from low-lying areas. Why minors only? If the situation is that dangerous, then evacuate everyone! Use your powers as NDCC chief and Defense Sec. to order a systematic evacuation of these areas by using your armed forces. Call in the reserved forces as well to help conduct an orderly evacuation, and don't take crap from stubborn residents. Man up Gibo! This is what you should have done last Saturday at the height of Ondoy.

Isn't anyone thinking straight anymore in Malacañang?!?! Oh right, they haven't slept for six days. erg

This made me laugh!

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should NOT Volunteer or Donate:

8. Yuck, make tapak in the putik? Kadiri, noh.

***

3. You can’t live without your daily Starbucks.
(Php100 x 30 = Php3000 / Php23.00 (per 1.5L bottle of mineral water) = 500 bottles of water, enough to properly hydrate a four-member family for one month) (Click GannsDeen for the rest. Repost from MLQ3)

Ganns, this is brilliant. I didn't think Christian bloggers could be funny, haha. I hope you find work on Dave Letterman's show. (wink)

As for #3, I can add a few more variations, like, "you can't live without a new Chanel bag" or "you can't live without your Loro Piana chinchilla-trimmed long coat" or "you can't live without your Christian Louboutins." (Da who?!) Cringe-worthy!

Donating from outside the Philippines

(Photo courtesy Voltaire Domingo/NPPA Images. Pls. do not download this w/o the photographer's permission.)

THOSE who are living outside the Philippines and wish to donate to the disaster relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Ondoy, pls click here.

Also, La Salle alumni abroad may want to course their donations through DLSAA-Metro New York. You can make your donations online. (Yes, Ateneans are welcome, too!)

What's your favorite Christmas tradition?

Something Like Life
Dec. 22/23. 2006

IS it just me or can you smell it, too? I don’t know, but there’s just something superspecial in our carbon monoxide-laden air these days that gives me an extra high, with just a few days to go before Christmas. Sure, we’re all probably tapped out right now, having exceeded our Christmas budget again…or suffering a splitting headache from the vocal contortions of the blind woman with the mic outside the mall…and maybe a bit frazzled from managing the maze of pasilyos at the tiangge and shoppers meandering like they were walking under the moonlight in Luneta!

But gee…Merry Christmas! It’s a wonderful holiday that should be celebrated throughout the year (sans the traffic). Let’s take some time to reflect on the birth of the Christ Jesus who has made all our blessings possible. And for that, we should offer our grateful hearts to Him and share the bounties of the season with all. As my gift to you dear readers, here are some friends to share their thoughts on their favorite Christmas traditions. Happy Christmas to you everyone!

Mayor Jojo Binay, Makati City

When I was still in high school (I was living with an uncle’s family then), I was supposed to go out with my cousins and my barkada. May karnabal pa noon, at ’yon lang ang pinaka-happening ng mga panahon na ’yon. I really wanted to go but I begged off, saying I had lots of books to read. The truth was, I didn’t have any money. This experience encouraged me to establish a tradition of gift-giving, especially to indigents in our beloved city, and treat them with free entertainment during Christmas/New Year.

Gov. Say Tetangco, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Besides family reunions, what’s my favorite Christmas tradition? Ah, it’s the golf circuit; I play with friends between Christmas and New Year. We’ve had one scorekeeper all these years, and only he knows how the tallies of wins and losses are made...but that has never seemed to bother any of us. We let him have his way, all in the spirit of friendship and camaraderie that fills the Christmas air.

Jimmy Bautista, president, Philippine Airlines

My favorite Christmas tradition is the Noche Buena, when after going to Mass all family members, from grandparents to grandchildren, dine and drink together and exchange gifts and pleasantries. When my parents were alive, we made it a point that my family and my sisters’ families spend Noche Buena in our parents’ home. It’s like our annual reunion and everybody, especially the kids, looks forward to it.

Lance Gokongwei, president, JG Summit Holdings Inc.

My favorite Christmas tradition is decorating the tree with my wife Jay, my daughter Hannah and my son Jacob. Basically, we use the same ornaments every year, but this year Hannah, who is four years old, added a Dora star on top of the tree. I love seeing my children’s faces light up as they watch the tree disappear under all the lights and colorful decoration.

Fritz Kahler, general manager, Alegre Beach Resort

Back home in Austria, our Christmases were mostly white, with a large freshly cut fir tree set up in our living room, beautifully decorated and lit by real beeswax candles, which altogether created that very special Christmas scent. My father then would walk through the house on Christmas Eve with pieces of hot coal from the fireplace on which he put some incense, which further enhanced the atmosphere. Christmas out here in the tropics is a bit different but we’ve kept some of the traditions. We always have a natural “Christmas tree” which could be a local bush or small tree “adapted” by my wife Cynthia and decorated with ornaments we’ve collected from the numerous countries we’ve lived in. We have real beeswax candles from back home which we light on Christmas Eve.

Macel Fernandez-Estavillo, legal counsel, Yuchengco Group of Companies

My dad would make wonderful paella that he’s famous for, my mom and aunt would make chicken salad and potato salad, and we’d eat at 12 midnight after our 10 pm Mass. When my sister Andion is in town (from Berlin), she’d sing Christmas carols during Mass (our family’s gift to Jesus). Now that it’s our first Christmas with our baby Javea, we’re hoping to start our own traditions, too. We got a trinket for the tree to celebrate Javea’s first Christmas, and hope to get one each year, so that when my husband, Karlo, and I are old, we’ll have a tree filled with trinkets for each year. We’re excited to be spending Javea’s first Christmas in Berlin with family, including Andion’s baby Jeffrey Jr., who is celebrating his second Christmas.

Nilo Cruz, managing director, HP Philippines

After Simbang Gabi on Christmas Eve, we’d stuff ourselves during Noche Buena with home-baked Chinese ham, pasta, fruits and French garlic bread, downing it all with either hot chocolate or freshly popped champagne. It’s gift-giving/opening until the wee hours. On Christmas Day, we visit relatives and friends, and in the evening we call those who are abroad. We also sponsor an orphan through our parish-church project during the holidays.

Ruby Gan, co-owner, Schu

We usually start our Christmas shopping when the school break starts. My sons Martin Francis and Raphael and I would scour the malls and shops armed with our lists. This is also the time when they would choose their Christmas cards for the rest of the family members. This time of the year, I tend to spoil my sons because I try to get everything on their lists. But hold your horses! These are not long lists—only about two to five items between the two boys, and they’re not really that expensive. On the 24th, after the 6 pm anticipated Misa de Gallo, we celebrate Christmas Eve with a nice dinner, usually at the Peninsula Manila, dressed in all our finery. Then at exactly midnight, we would open all our gifts!

Prandy Yulo, managing director, Hella Phils.

As a born-again Christian, I attend a Christian service normally before midnight of the 24th in our local church where we remember the birth of Jesus as told in Scripture and focus on the reason for the season, the coming of the Messiah. After congregational songs of worship and prayers, we proceed to the reading of Scripture. The highlight of the service is our pastor’s sermon on the significance of the season. My family would then spend some time after the service in fellowship with our churchmates, then go home to sleep.

Joey Bermudez, president, Chinatrust Commercial Bank Corp.

On Christmas Eve, we always hold a talent contest where we—my wife Ester, my kids Miggy, Anjo, Jeff, Gabby and Christine, and myself—perform individually with the househelp as our audience. The househelp also act as judges and they select the best performers. Of course, we give the househelp their Christmas gifts before they do their judging chores to ensure that they will be neutral. I have never won in any of these contests.

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At no better time of the year can we give of our hearts to the less fortunate among us. I would like to enjoin all to remember the Guimaras oil-spill victims, whose futures are not as secure as most of us in this Holy Season. You may send your donations, either in cash or kind, to:

PROJECT SUNRISE (http://www.projectsunrise.org)
c/o Land Bank of the Philippines Guimaras Branch
Account Name: Provincial Government of Guimaras
Account No: 1922-1000-35
Bank Swift Code: TLBPPHMMAXXX

VISAYAN SEA SQUADRON
c/o Lette Teodosio
Cell-phone Nos.: +63919-225-3262, +63928-231-3193, +63915-7854-035
E-mail: cleanupoilspill@gmail.com

(My column, Something Like Life, appears every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Photos from BusinessMirror.)