THE C CIRCLE

Last 31 October 2009, me and my buddy, Mac, went up to La Union and Baguio. It was an unplanned trip. We decided to go at around three o’clock in the afternoon already. Maybe, we just thought of how boring the next couple of days would be so we just decided to take on the trip.

We reached La Union past nine o’clock in the evening. The road to the house we will spend the night at is not the usual smooth, cemented one. The walk was exciting because aside from the fact that it was already dark and we did not have flash lights with us, we also had to walk some mud pathways. It’s a good thing, it was a full moon that night and we were able to manage our way.

While Mac was chatting with his relatives, I took some pictures of just what my digital camera can capture that time.

This is how they cook their food. I don’t know but people in the province say that foods cooked in this kind of stove actually taste better.

Native chickens resting.

Alvin, Mac’s cousin, invited us to play cards before going to bed. However, since I do not know how to play “tong-its”, I wasn’t able to join them. While they were playing, I was watching some horror flicks. After several card game rounds, all of us went to sleep.

One thing nice about the place is that you do not need to use an electric fan or an air conditioner so that you could sleep comfortably. The gentle, cool breeze of the night will surely help you get that very relaxing and deep sleep.

In the morning, we hurriedly visited what used to be corn fields before Ondoy hit the place. We were saddened by the things we saw.

The hanging bridge before Ondoy.

This is all that is left from what used to be a hanging bridge.

This post where Mac and Trix had their picture taken used to be sturdy being concrete.

However, after Ondoy devastated the place, this is all that’s left from this post

Everything that we have is temporary.

26 September 2009 is a day Filipinos will never forget. It is already a history that is inked in our lives. About 150 people have died and nearly 500,000 people have been affected by tropical storm “Ondoy” that caused heavy downpour and massive flooding in Metro Manila particularly in Marikina, Cainta, and Pasig.

I did not give much thought of the typhoon Ondoy when PAGASA forecasted it a few days prior the 26th since they said it will not cause much trouble. Unfortunately, since PAGASA did not have sophisticated technology to accurately forecast a storm, the people were wrongly informed.

And so the 26th of September came. There was already a heavy downpour when I woke up at around 9 in the morning. During that time, I thought it was just one of those “crying days of the heavens”. However, when I realized that only after about 4 hours, flood was already evident on the streets and it is quickly rising, I told myself, this is already something.

I turned on the TV and tuned in to a news channel. I was shocked when the newscaster broadcasted how massive the flood is already and started to show videos and pictures of the areas and people who were greatly affected by the typhoon.

A young girl is carried to safety through floodwaters

Residents help a woman get off the flood

People in Cainta wait for rescue on top of their submerged houses

According to the news, typhoon Ondoy delivered 410 mm of rainfall which is 20 mm higher than the average rainfall in a month.

If there is one thing I realized in this calamity was that we are powerless when we are faced with mother nature. I just hope that people, not only in the Philippines, will start to be more caring of mother earth. After all, this is the only home we’ve got.