Paraiso

How can anyone complain, criticize, point fingers, sulk or bicker at this point in time? Our countrymen need us. We should be united. Political parties must work hand in hand. This is not a campaign season. We must try to get over the hump in this perilous fight to get this nation back on its feet.

Our voices are heard all over the world. As of press time more than 30 countries that includes the US, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, European Union, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, and even Vietnam (which was also hit by the typhoon but not as bad as the Philippines) have made their pledges to help us. Some have already sent money or have donated goods. Others have sent their rescue teams and military troops, planes, trucks and automobiles. Even China has shown compassion. Non-government and humanitarian organizations such as World Vision, International Search and Rescue Team, Save the Children, OXFAM, UNICEF, Red Cross, Medicins Sans Frontieres, have made significant contributions in the form of money and expertise to help the victims rebuild their lives. The youth from different parts of the world have reached out to the victims offering support straight from their own pockets like 6-year old Shoichi Kondoh who gave 5,000 yen from his own piggybank savings.

Media has been playing an important role in creating awareness through eyewitness accounts of the aftermath of Yolanda. Our local television /radio stations, newspapers, international press such as CNN, BBC News, social media (FB, Twitter, Instagram, etc,) are sources of news and information for families in the affected areas. Truly, this catastrophe has brought the world together.

But despite the tremendous outpour of help, we still have the nerve to bicker. Why can’t we just be grateful for the kindness and generosity of the people who continue to help those severely affected in their own special way?

This is not the time to be proud. This is not the time to pick on a fight. This is not the time to criticize. This is a time for humility to step in, to kneel on bended knees seek for divine intervention so that our lost paradise can rise up from the rubbles.

God is watching us every step of the way. And as we prepare for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ (Christmas), we must find it in our hearts to give, to share, and to care for the sick, the wounded and the dying. If there are lessons that should be etched in our hearts after each tragedy that has befallen us, these would be: humility, love and respect for the environment, love for our neighbors, the power of prayer, faith in the Filipino and faith in ourselves, vigilance and being prepared at all times.

No amount of preparation could have been enough for Typhoon Yolanda. The magnitude of this devastation has not only shown the resilience of the Filipino at a time of great loss but has also awakened the Filipino spirit of bayanihan. Indeed, we need to bring out the best in us and not the worst during this time.

Every island or islet in the Philippines is like paradise. The coastline of Leyte facing the Pacific Ocean is a very serene and picturesque place uninhabited by commercial entities. The local folks have preserved its natural environment.

The fishing town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar where Yolanda made its first landfall was flattened destroying the historic church of the Immaculate Conception. Coron, a major tourist destination in Palawan also suffered the brunt of the typhoon as it exited the country. Its landmark Mt. Tapya was not spared.

Last September we had a beautiful musicale entitled “O Bayang Mahal” – a celebration of Philippine culture and tradition. One of the highlights of the show was the song called Paraiso by Smokey Mountain. The words of the song remind me of the calamities we’ve been through in the past months. It reminds us to take good care of our environment and not take it for granted. I couldn’t help but think of the fate our people in those islands are going through right now. Imagine walking through the streets trying to look for shelter, scavenging for food to eat and water to drink, looking for loved ones underneath the rubbles of the earth and desperately looking for a familiar place among the ruins. And as we do our daily grind, we cannot help but think of what has come to be. We are all crying with one voice, marching in this endless battle that nature’s wrath has thrown to us. Oh, please God help us!

The song should inspire us to bring back that sparkle in our lost paradise … It goes:

Return to a land called Paraiso; a place where a dying river ends. No birds there fly over Paraiso; no space allows them to endure. The smoke that screens the air; the grass that’s never there. And if I could see a single bird, what a joy. I try to write some words and create a simple song to be heard by the rest of the world.

I live in this land called Paraiso, in a house made of cardboard floors and walls.

I learned to be free in Paraiso, free to claim anything I see. Matching rags for my clothes, plastic bags for the cold. And if empty cans were all I have, what a joy. I never fight to take someone else’s coins and live with fear, like the rest of the boys.

Paraiso, help me make a stand. Paraiso, take me by the hand. Paraiso, make the world understand. That if I could see a single bird, what a joy. This tired and hungry land could expect some truth and hope and respect from the rest of the world.

We need to bring peace in this land. We should have one voice, one dream, one Philippines. Truly there must be a light at the end of the tunnel. So, let us stop fighting. Let us stop complaining. Let us stop criticizing one another. Let us keep calm, focus and put all our positive energies into helping our lost paradise – from Cebu, Leyte, Samar, Dumaguete, Bantayan, Palawan, Mindoro, Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate, Iloilo, Romblon, Capiz, Antique, Aklan, Estancia, Sara to Negros Occidental.