My sister Christine got a plea for assistance from her friend and former cop, Mang Sonny Carballo, who resides in Pasig. Mang Sonny desperately wanted to help a community still submerged in floodwaters and whose residents were in dire need of relief supplies.
We, of the Healing Servants Foundation, packed up care packages and arranged to meet Mang Sonny in the parking lot of Rustan’s on Mercedes Street, San Miguel, Pasig. When we got there, I was shocked to see that the residents were wet, dirty and wore tattered clothes. Mang Sonny explained that they had to walk more than two kilometers through flooded waters to get to us. We handed over the goods to a most grateful and terribly hungry crowd. We also thanked Mang Sonny for arranging this opportunity to help. He went knocking door to door in the flood the night before just to tell them we were coming.
We left, our heavy hearts filled with pity. On the way home, Father Gerard Deveza called our other members to tell them that Pasig needed more help. So last Sunday they prepared cooked food and more care packages filled with rice, canned food, medicine, toiletries, bottled water, clothing among others. Mang Sonny coordinated with the parish priest who willingly allowed us the use of the Santa Clara church courtyard where we gave foods to 400 families.
We met a concerned lady who heard that more families trapped in deeper areas inside needed assistance. So we carried 300 more sandwiches and walked to the Pasig Rescue Center nearby.
There we met Col. Rey Labanen of the Philippine Army and a lady officer who asked us how they could be of assistance. We told them we wanted to feed more hungry people inside their hard-to-reach flooded area. They asked us our names and affiliation and info about our group. We explained that we are not politicians or actresses and are just members of a small private group called Healing Servants foundation led by Father Gerard, a healing priest who wants to help the needy and feed the hungry. We told them we had goods donated by our families and friends. Our style is to personally deliver the goods direct to those who need them.
They understood and to our pleasant surprise they lent us the use of a 6x6 Army truck escorted by the friendliest and most accommodating volunteers and armed soldiers. They explained that the waters were deep and the place we wanted to go was further inside. So we quickly boarded the truck, a vintage Vietnam model, according to my husband.
It felt so surreal to see makeshift boats made of scrap styrofoam, plywood, patched-up inflatables, cut-up drums and other ingenious contraptions including broken refrigerators. We witnessed the terrible plight of Barangay Pinagbuhatan residents and distributed food.
This experience allowed me to get to know the Pasig fire and rescue volunteers more. There was Chris Reyes who had been happily doing this for nine years now. And there was Danilo Cruz who lost his home to 18 feet of water but was only too grateful that he was home in time to rescue his three young sons from drowning. He has been volunteering for 19 years. The day after typhoon Ondoy, they had to swim in the flood to deliver relief goods to a very wild and frightened crowd.
The next day we went back again to reach an even more hard off area of hungry people. We were enthusiastically met by our new friends, the Pasig volunteers. This time I was surprised to see them loading a yellow rescue boat onto the truck. They said it was because the area we were going to was still chest deep that even the truck cannot reach so the only way to distribute the goods directly to the hungry people was by boat.
So off we went. We passed the flooded Pasig City Hall and several closed establishments along the way but when I saw the submerged Pasig Mega market, I could no longer hold back tears. Overwhelmed by the endless scene of dirty floodwater everywhere was just too much and yet in minutes I was consoled by the smiling faces of the people as they passed us by waving in their makeshift boats pushed by people on foot. They were smiling and laughing as if it was just a normal day in the market where life goes on. Lady vendors were hawking their wares on rafts while others ran a floating business selling banana fritters. A wooden bridge was ingeniously constructed of coco lumber above the flood waters. These people are survivors, I told myself. They proved how resilient the Filipino spirit is.
Still our truck driver drove past the bridge until I noticed we were getting farther, deeper and dirtier. The driver stopped and the rubber boat was unloaded. I chickened out and opted to walk the bridge instead but it was scary because the coco lumber felt so soft under my flip flops and there was nothing to hold on to on the sides of the narrow walkway. I had the feeling I would fall into the floodwaters below especially when met by a walking crowd in the opposite direction. So I opted to transfer to the boat. As I sat in it, the armed soldiers and fire volunteers walked the deep waters while pulling the boat loaded with cooked food. The water was getting deeper from waist up and I worried for the soldiers. I told them we could just stop where the waters were shallower but they were unrelenting in their decision to proceed to a deeper area, where people needed the goods more.
Behind us, Father and the rest of the servants were riding in a crude makeshift canoe that looked like half a boat.
As we were going farther away, the place began to look sadder and drearier with smelly water. As we were approaching I saw a very restless looking crowd waiting for the food. I got nervous because the soldiers had warned us earlier that in hungry desperation, an unruly crowd, in one of their operations, had toppled their boat of supplies into the waters. At this point, I brought out my rosary and prayed. When we reached our final destination in Gahid, the soldiers protected the boat and calmed down the crowd. The multitude peacefully lined up. And thank God we had more than enough to feed all the hungry people.
We thank the Lord for allowing us to help and for the opportunity of meeting kind souls, a bunch of blessings even in the middle of chaos.
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We will forever remember the kindness of the following people who helped us distribute the goods in Pinagbuhatan, Pasig. From the Philippine Army, 2nd Infantry Division: Col. Rey Labanen, 1st LT Logan Cliff Awril, SGG June Pagaduan, PFC Marcos Borongan, PFC Rico Magdasal, PFC Dante Bawi Jr., PFC Lorenzo Lucero, PFC Prospero Salud Jr., PFC Alvin Gamba, PFC Casryan Ombat and SGT Jennardo Cayabyab. From the Kapasigan Fire and Rescue Team: Crisanto Panganiban Jr., Jomari Opus, Richard Ventura, Chris Reyes, Danilo Cruz Jr., Jaypee Bukalan and Joe Cris Lim. From the Pasig City Fire Brigade: John Michael Damian, Aldrin Dapitan and John Paolo Lantin.
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The Healing Servants Foundation would like to express sincere gratitude to all those who have given and assisted in our relief missions in Tatalon, Novaliches, Taguig, Bulacan, Baras, Marikina, Pasig and in Gulod, Cabuyao, Laguna. If you wish to help, please call Father Gerard at 0918-9008925 or log on to www.healingservants.com
(Would love to hear from you at miladayjewels@yahoo.com)