I have always been a fan of heights, or not. When I look down on tall cliffs or sky scrapers I feel like I am on top of everything above me, in all aspects. But as such imagination could topple a strong structure down.
As I am deployed in another island, I am faced with mountains and the sea. On a hill atop a quaint municipality, the land shook beneath causing an abandoned barangay hall to collapse. Further ahead, a destructed road met us still because of soil that eroded from below.
Looking back a year ago, I remember the tremor that shook the underground in Cebu and Bohol. I was getting ready for my holiday, going to work in a music school. As I was about to leave home, I saw our wall clock shake. My cat then looked at me with fear in his eyes and ran to the darkest corner of our house. With my knees knelt down, I placed my hands to the ground and felt the tremor below. It lasted for about a minute, my body too was shaking.
Still determined to start the day at work, I left the house against the wishes of my father. It was only then that I saw the effect it had on the metropolitan - workers wanting to catch a ride home immediately, structures partly destroyed and cracked roads. I could not believe that I just experienced an off shoot from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake which epicenter was in Bohol.
Social media sites were then filled with information about Bohol. They had no food, water or a place to stay. My heart was crumpled, I knew I had to help. Organizations left and right started to give in to the call and I gladly joined where I could. But my help could not replace the sadness in my heart as I saw the situation on television and on the internet.
I could not sleep either. My bed felt like a rocking chair. Every hour or so, the tremor surfaced and I could not help but cry, fearing my own life.
Today, those tremors turn a year old. Despite seeing the other island rise again in terms of tourism I could not help but wonder how are the people back there. Have they truly stood up? Do they already have homes to live in as I do now? Or a family to run to like most of us have? Today is not just any ordinary pay day. Today is the day when we, in the Central Visayas, were shook not only physically but also spiritually.
I remember that this is the time when we stood strong as a region, praying for one another regardless of religion. It was a time when people from all walks of life took time to bend one knee for the departed souls and destroyed families. With that said, I am firm that if we only bond together in unity then we can reach whatever we want to achieve. If we did it as a region, how much more than a country.
The earthquake was indeed strong, but nothing is stronger than the resiliency of the Filipinos. Despite dark nights, cold evacuation centers and barely no food to eat, our fellows were able to smile, thankful for their life that cost them a fortune. Indeed, nothing could replace a life that has been gratefully given.
To all our fellows who have lost and gained in this deadly tremor, I continue to wish you well and that today may be a day when we celebrate life as it has been given.