In a time of floods, a designer speaks out

(The designer originally posted this on Facebook. The message was so appropiate, we felt only right to share it with our readers. —Ed.)

MANILA, Philippines - I am a probinsyano. Yes, I grew up and spent most of my life in Albay, Bicol. It’s not so popular except for the volcano, which I used to see every morning when I’d wake up. Yes, again, we live near the volcano, and a creek runs along the back of our house — and living there for decades strengthened me as a person.

Now in a crisis like this, I can’t help but recall how my family and I would huddle together. Sometimes we’d sleep on top of tables or chairs elevated on a sofa as deep flood waters would engulf our small house. My father, brother and I would walk around in the deep water with ropes tied around our waists just so we would be safe from the current. We’d close all the windows and block the tiny spaces between the doors and the floors to prevent snakes from swimming in. We’d wait for days until the flooding would subside. And then, finally when the water was gone, we’d wash off the mud and soil from what is left of our belongings. I remember the time I hid and wept after finding my favorite books soaked and beyond being saved. The other books that survived were left to dry in our front yard.

This situation kept repeating.

The floods started getting worse, the water levels higher. But the government never did anything to prevent it. And there was no Twitter then, or Facebook. No one knew about what was happening! No one was listening. Don’t get me wrong, but I’m actually a bit glad that this is happening in the city –– that the storms are hampering the metropolis, where the government can actually feel and see that people need help. There has to be a concrete plan against perennial floods. Proper urban planning and renovation is in order. You see, people living in provinces do not have a voice as strong as the population living in the capital city.

For the government, a calamity that takes place in remote provinces is not as bad as the calamity in the city. I cannot blame them. Why would you listen to hundreds of families living in huts, built maybe for a few thousands of pesos if it’s easy to release a fund for them to rebuild their small shanties again? Of course they can’t release funds for damaged mansions and buildings in the capital!

We never received any financial help from the government during my entire life in the province. Not one centavo. But to be fair, I did line up to receive some relief goods. But I still felt that they never paid enough attention. For them, we are just a fraction of the country, seemingly detached, and they thought that with a few kilos of rice and some noodles and sardines, we would be pacified.

And now that the typhoons are actually pouring down on the roofs of their mansions, I can’t help but think that there is justice. It is true, you will only understand something when you experience it. If the Palace suffered from the floods, then I’m sure even the President would actually do something to alleviate this present embarrassing state of Manila. Before, their tall and thick walls would protect them from the scene of poverty that they themselves caused from repetitive and disguised corruption. Now, the floods and tides wash this trash into their homes. It’s the same trash that they tried to hide for decades. The country is already under huge debt, I hope we won’t sink any deeper in flood waters and mud. These politicians should make room for the street rats by improving the drainage system, because if not, the same rats may just share their beds at night.