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Going
around my beloved city of Iloilo, I felt a pang of
sadness when, just on Saturday, it was a sunny, vibrant
and dynamic city, a metropolis of fun and full of life,
a city of dreams. The next day, the winds and rain came,
snuffing out the lights and the livelihood and rhythm of
a vibrant urban center.
I was
thankful to be there when Frank came and left behind a
trail of destruction and misery, and to experience and
see the extent of the damage. After the winds and rain
subsided, I was one of the first passengers to leave
Iloilo to make my report to the President personally
before Her Excellency left for that very important state
visit to the US.
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While in
Manila, I initiated a fund- raising campaign to put
together relief goods for those displaced by the storm
in the city. We inspected barangay upon barangay of mud
and debris, ruined houses and commercial establishments,
and helped people who were trying to retrieve their
precious belongings to start life anew.
Schools
turned into evacuation centers, sheltering displaced
families, and we wondered what to do with the displaced
pupils of these schools. There was barely enough food to
feed the hundreds of evacuees, and potable water was
scarce.
We
rushed to deliver bags of rice, purified water and
noodles to the victims and brought the sick and the
feeble to government hospitals around the city for
checkup and medical care.
But it
seemed that what we were doing were not enough. To
monitor the status of many communities within the city,
I met with barangay officials and elders and enlisted
their aid, mobilizing them to ensure that everyone
received assistance. We were overjoyed when helicopters
from the USS Ronald Reagan arrived carrying bags of rice
and bottles of water as part of the US-Philippine
humanitarian relief effort upon the appeal of President
Arroyo to President George W. Bush.
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Through
the President’s efforts, the Spanish Embassy has
promised to deliver a planeload of medical supplies,
water purifiers and temporary shelters. The British
embassy conveyed the sympathies of Queen Elizabeth,
while Pope Benedict XVI offered prayers.
The
South Korean government donated cash and offered its
sympathy to the victims, as did German President Horst
Kohler; and the French, which also represented the
European Union, promised aid and assistance to the
victims. The Japanese pledged millions worth of aid,
after China sent its initial monetary donation.
The
Catholic Church in the US pledged a cash donation, and
many other countries have signified their readiness to
send aid.
On the
corporate side, Coca-Cola Co. is setting up a
P10-million relief fund in response to the President’s
appeal to the private sector, and many other companies
are expected to follow.
The
inflow of aid and the response to the President’s appeal
has touched many hearts and has turned out to be a
uniting force that is binding all Filipinos all over the
archipelago, as endearing as our enduring bayanihan
trait.
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It is a
triumph of the human spirit when people of different
color and creed manifest humanitarian concern for their
fellowmen. I was fortunate to be a witness when aid and
donations began pouring in from all over the country and
the world, and from people whose hearts are filled with
brotherly love for those in distress, particularly
Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, patriarch of the
BusinessMirror.
Filipino
communities in the US donated cash and promised more
material aid after President Arroyo appealed for their
support. The President directed Department of Foreign
Affairs officials to open bank accounts to receive
disaster-assistance donations from foreign communities,
and also our embassies in other parts of the US, Europe
and the Middle East. Web sites were made available for
people around the globe to get information regarding the
needs of typhoon victims.
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The
disaster named Frank displaced the equally distressful
Drilon kidnapping from the headlines, and many wondered
about the parallelism of these sad events. The Ilonggos
were caught unaware by the unexpected force and fury of
the typhoon, but I have no doubt that like the bamboo,
we will soon unbend and recover with grace and tenacity,
to overcome all the challenges of life.
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Tobacco
companies have offered some 1,400 hectares of tobacco
land for rice production to meet the expected shortfalls
in the supply of rice in the country. The tobacco firms
pledged to provide assistance to farmers in the form of
fertilizers and pesticides and loans for the procurement
of seeds.
These
companies include Mighty Corp., Universal Leaf
Philippines Inc., Trans Manila Inc.—both suppliers of
Philip Morris Phils.—Fortune Tobacco Corp., the largest
Virginia leaf buyer, together with the Namnama and Star
trading centers.
This is
good news, especially at a time when our country is in
great need of more acreage for rice to compensate for
the shrinking of arable lands due to other
nonagricultural use. Indeed, heroes, too, come in
unexpected forms. |
