So much hate, distrust, and negativity. We claim to be strong and united, but we ourselves are very quick to depict that our government and our military are
useless. This is the time to work together, not point fingers. It’s past time
that we realize that the government alone cannot hold this country up. We all
need to hold this nation up. I agree that aid should have come sooner, things
should have been done better, response could have been faster. But it is always
that way in a calamity. In life, generally. It could always be done better. You
always wish that things could be better than reality. We wish people were
better informed about storm surges. We wish we had roads that don’t wash away.
We wish we had endless supply of fuel so that the helicopters can just
transport everyone out of Tacloban into a massive evacuation camp. Hell, we
didn’t ask for a super typhoon to begin with. A lot of things in life we ponder
about in retrospect, and a lot of things in life we just have to weather
through.
So much information going around that are just plain
rumours. People are trigger-happy with that ‘Share’ button. I would rather see
information on how to help and stories on how people are helping and are being
helped, shared many times over on social media, than the bickering and blaming and
painting our country as a nation of thieves and liars. We are not. There are a few individuals that steal and lie to the
masses, but as a nation we are honest workers, loving and kind to each other, devoted
to our families, decent, peaceful and God-fearing. But now where is the love?
Where is kindness? Where is healing?
Each of us are held accountable for what we do in our lives.
Each of us are held accountable for what we do now in the face of such
devastation. In my capacity as a Filipino living abroad, I extend what
financial help I can and encourage friends and family to do the same. A
government official in Leyte has different responsibilities, to his
constituents, to his own family, to the nation in general. A soldier tasked
with recovery operations has a whole other set of responsibilities. We all need
to realize what we can do and we all need to do them now and without fanfare.
Those that fail to do their job will be judged and held accountable in due
time.
I agree that we need to be vigilant and critical of services
that we should get from the government. But I think that calling out the
government should be done in an informed, factual and educated manner. Let us
not get emotional and political. Don’t get me wrong. I am very emotional every
time I watch the news and see the extent of desperation in Visayas. But I wish
that our emotions would push us to set aside differences and hatred and negativity
and focus on helping and healing. We have to be careful about where activism
takes us. In a real apocalypse, there will be no government and we will have to
survive on our own.
If we want to really, really change our nation for the
better, and not just about dealing with catastrophes like this, we need to
change our way of thinking. We need to educate our kids. We need to elect real
leaders. We need to respect ourselves and trust that as individuals and as a
community, we will rise above anything and everything. We need to recognize
that there will be difficulties and that we work together to overcome it. Tama si Maya, dapat kapit-bisig.
Here are just a few ways to help:
**For every dollar donated by individual Canadians to UNICEF
Canada from November 9th to December 8th, 2013, the Government of Canada will
contribute a dollar up to $100,000. UNICEF’s generous corporate supporters will
be matching all donations for Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, excluding the
Government of Canada donation match, up to $25,000.
