My heart is with flood victims

It was early ’90s. I was in Sto. Domingo Church. The sky was dark and it seemed like one of those end-of-the-world scenes where bats would come out of the sky. Henceforth, the downpour of rain. My Papa Nick, who was supposed to pick me up from school, was not able to because Espanya Ave. was already flooded. I was an evacuee of sorts and spent the night at the seminary along with a few other students from Angelicum. Downstairs, in the corridors of Sto. Domingo church, stayed the real evacuees — those who lost their homes when floodwaters rose in Maria Clara St. near Talayan River.

I was “saling ket” in giving soup kitchen to the families in the corridors. It was to be the first of many more soup kitchens to come.

This past week, monsoon rains affected many families all over Luzon. Our first dispatch of relief goods would have been in Malanday, Marikina, but floodwaters prevented us from reaching the place. Then, Sagip Kapamilya received a call from the priests of Sto. Domingo Church. They needed relief goods for families who knocked at the doors of the church during the downpour.

It was deja vu when I set foot in Sto. Domingo. I was back in that very same moment more than 20 years ago. The cold breeze at the corridors, the people lying on cartons and blankets, some people still wet from the rain. But I was no longer a student and we had relief goods with us from the donors of Sagip Kapamilya.

I encountered a woman who had just given birth by caesarian section four days before being evacuated. She shared her blanket, a sapin with her eight children. They only had a few clothes with them all soaked from the rain. Beside them was another family, and beside that family was another family.

As I entered the church, I was stunned to see that evacuees occupied almost all the pews from rear to back. A family or two families to a pew. An estimated 400 families sought refuge in Sto. Domingo, coming not only from Maria Clara St. but also in other areas in Sta. Mesa Heights.

The last time Sto. Domingo church saw that much occupants was when Ondoy hit Metro Manila in 2009. It was happening all over again. The affected families of the monsoons was in thousands and all of them needed help.

Aside from evacuees in Sto. Domingo Church, among the first ones to receive relief goods were those in Marikina. Proximity-wise, they were easier to reach by groups undertaking relief operations, but more importantly, the evacuees in Marikina were knowledgable about evacuation procedures, and most of them adhered to the flood warnings for pre-emptive evacuation.

Why pre-emptive evacuation?

A Marikina baranggay captain that I interviewed admitted that they were not skilled in rescue operations. Hence, they pushed for pre-emptive evacuation, because it was difficult to rescue residents in their households when the floodwaters came. He knew what their limitations were, and Ondoy gave a lasting impression on them to take pre-emptive evacuation very seriously.

Baranggay personnel are at the forefront of calamity operations but they are not trained or equipped like those involved in rescue like the Red Cross, or the military. Though not falling short of valor, valor without the technical know-how compromises the safety of the rescuer and that of the person being rescued.

Unlike during Ondoy, the monsoon surge gave us time to evacuate homes. TV and radio media gave up-to-date reports on flood control and dam monitoring. Sadly, there were still pasaway who would not heed calls to evacuate, compromising their families’ safety and that of the volunteer rescuers. More people could be saved if we all just cooperated. Easier said than done, some would say.

The Marikina baranggay official stressed, “It’s easier to provide them relief goods in the evacuation centers.”

I agree that no matter how difficult the situation is in most evacuation centers, at least, there is a way of monitoring the situation, and providing people relief goods, unlike for example in the flooded parts of Central Luzon, now, where people are living amidst the flood.

During a typhoon in Sept., 2011, I went to Hagonoy Bulacan to bring relief goods to the least accessible Baranggay Tampok. The baranggay was the catch basin of water coming from Nueva Ecija and Bulacan. Think Venice. The streets and the small alleys were all flooded. But there were no gondolas to wade through the water. Babies were in batcha to keep them dry. People were casually striding in floodwaters. With no proper sanitation, we knew what was definitely floating in the murky waters. Their utmost concern was potable water and food.

This week, I received a text from the baranggay captain of Tampok asking for help. Relief goods, again, had been scarce.

Unfortunately, I was told that we couldn’t mobilize solely for the small barangay. We had to have enough goods for all the barangays leading to the last barangay unless you are willing to face an angry mob.

The number of people who need assistance are still overwhelming — numbering to thousands — and I‘m praying that the supply of relief goods that we can provide for the flooded areas of Central Luzon will suffice. Even in a big organization like Sagip Kapamilya, supplies get depleted so quickly. I’m sure the same situation goes for Department of Social Welfare and Develoment (DSWD) and other groups. The challenge is for us to organize ourselves into a relief network for us to cover more areas affected, but a far greater challenge to all of us is to continue on with helping because our work is far from over.