Everyday heroes

Last Tuesday, I picked up a brand spanking new Chevrolet Colorado for a special test drive. Rather than the garden variety 5-day test, where you take it home and live with it for a week, the folks over at the Covenant Car Company booked an overnight stay in Acuaverde resort in Batangas for two, threw in a Coleman cooler full of snacks, drinks, towels and some medicines just in case, and sent me off to experience their pickup “in the way it was designed to be driven.” 

There would be some rough roads, highways, maybe some sand driving and perhaps some rain thrown in for added realism, which outside of these cordoned-off off-road tracks that organizers usually build for 4x4 events is usually a cute way to get someone to feel all cowboy for a day or two. Little did they know just how real the role-playing would become, though. 

As we were ready to take off for the resort, the first of the torrential downpours hit Metro Manila. I remember smugly thinking, “Perfect. This is Colorado weather.” But it didn’t stop. After another 30 minutes or so, memories of Ondoy came flooding back. Seeing that we were hit by Ondoy and lost a lot of our stuff, I quickly cancelled the booking and informed Chevrolet that we would need to reschedule and offered to return the pickup. “It’s ok,” Lyn Buena, Chevrolet’s SVP said, “Keep it for the designated time. You might need it.” 

Now I’ve read a lot about the Colorado and driven it quite extensively in Thailand. I’ve heard the engineers boast about best-in-class power for the 2.8 liter, 4x4 versions. I’ve sat through presentations where they get all emotional about their one-ton payload capacity, and I have shared a dinner table with a few who still get teary eyed when they talk about the 800mm water-wading capacity. 

But let’s be completely honest here, unless you own a ranch, or are a cement salesman in Australia, for those of us urban cowboys living in Metro Manila, a one-ton payload capacity is just another call-out on a brochure––until you find yourself being the only vehicle trusted with delivering 20 sacks of rice to the Red Cross, that is; 800mm wading depth is just another number in the owner’s manual, until you are desperately trying to get out of waist-deep waters to help a friend. And best-in-class power is usually just bragging rights over beer until you need every drop of that climbing up slippery slopes with almost 2,000 pounds of canned goods that have to get to those in need.

And that is exactly where I found myself. From the initial prospect of sipping a cocktail on a deck chair in Batangas while waiting for my massage, to wading through almost waist-high waters in this truck, shuttling people across Ortigas Avenue Extension. And I can honestly tell you, that no matter how many times I’ve tested the limits of the Colorado in the regional launches before, there’s a huge difference between me testing something and actually relying on it. 

All of a sudden, the numbers become gospel. Funny, but while the vast majority of owners could go through the life of their vehicles without testing any one of its maximum capacities, here I was, after a little twist of events, in my first 12 hours of borrowing it, having to put my full faith in about four of them—power, payload, fuel consumption and wading depth. Basically, the Colorado was being called out on its claims, and if there was one time it needed to ‘Do More’ and ‘Be More,’ it was right now.

And that’s exactly what it did. With enough ground clearance and a redesigned air intake with water-sealed mechanicals, the Colorado was able to ford through (sorry about the choice of word) water that was almost half way up the headlights—which in many cases, is the difference between making it or breaking it. 

And despite shuttling tons of relief goods through flooded streets, it still returned 10 kms. per liter, which was crucial considering that many gas stations around the area were submerged, allowing us to reach more people in more areas. We were able to make it across some pretty punishing conditions, and I realized that had I been testing any less of a vehicle that week, I probably would never have witnessed the brand of human kindness that only a calamity can bring out. And you know what they say about coincidence.

There comes a time in everyone’s life where you will be called upon. And we’d like to know that when our time comes, we can measure up. Over the last five days or so, I have witnessed such a tremendous outpouring of love, compassion, generosity and kindness from people that it has truly humbled me. These are what you call everyday heroes. Folks with absolutely no agenda, who prefer to remain anonymous, that sacrificed to help their fellow man in this time of need. And to each and every one of you, I say thank you. 

They say that the Filipino spirit is unsinkable. I’m just glad my test unit that week was too. 

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