Skip to main content

Remembering Cheerless Christmas Due to Odette

Today marks the anniversary of the formation of Odette. I remembered having a cheerless Christmas. I was in no mood to say Merry Christmas until January came. I couldn't get over celebrating Christmas and New Year in January. Those dates were on December 25 and the final day of the 12th lunar month. I wanted to put up some Christmas decorations but the house was still under repair. Living rooms and some bedrooms were still under repair. The good thing though was that electricity was restored. I did enjoy doing some clean-up work. The disaster was unenjoyable. The repairing soon became enjoyable. It was because every repair meant something to do after the disaster.

Project Lupad

My hometown of Cebu was devastated. Much of Visayas was ruined. I could remember how both former president Rodrigo R. Duterte and former vice president, Atty./Mrs. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo did separate scouting. I was thankful for whatever help both did for the less fortunate. This reminded me of the devastation of Tacloban City during Yolanda. Seeing Tacloban in ruins still ruined my heart. I did associate Tacloban City with getting some delicious desserts and the sights. 

Bohol was yet another place dear to my heart. I remembered having a family reunion in 2008 at the Bohol Bee Farm. That bee farm was my first experience in organic food. As a food lover, I felt devastated just thinking about how damaged it must've been. Fortunately, I'm glad to hear it recovered. Meanwhile, the damage also hit somewhere. Somewhere where I wish I could've flown to but the pandemic stopped me from doing so. 

I could remember how reckless I got. I almost felt it was just going to be another normal storm. What started out as a normal storm became a tornado. It was a good thing I was warned on time not to stay where I was. I could've been badly hurt or even die as a result. I lost all energy for the whole time. It was eating a lot of meat before they'd be rotten. I was really glad that after some time--I was able to slowly eat some more plant-based food. Eventually, electricity was restored but those living in far-flung areas were still not having electricity.

MindaNews

I could also remember the damage in Surigao as well. My late paternal grandmother came from Surigao City. I heard Surigao City was far worse than Cebu City. I was totally perplexed looking at Surigao City. It's another part of me even if I didn't grow up there. I wasn't there in Surigao but seeing the damage was something. Fortunately, there was limited use of a generator to allow me to check on my relatives. I used one month's worth of mobile data until the electricity and Internet returned. The damage was heartbreaking. Surigao had a sentimental value to me in one way or another. 

Fortunately, some of my relatives in Surigao City went to Butuan as refugees. I was amazed that Butuan was left unaffected. I was able to chat with a cousin of mine who was staying in Butuan with his wife and newborn daughter. I was happy to hear that Butuan was accommodating to refugees. I could remember going to Butuan before going to Surigao during one of those family events. I was devastated even more. It seemed Surigao was going to take longer than Cebu to recover. Though, I was glad to hear that Surigao's repair was in the works.

Today, I wake up thinking about how bad last year was. It was a cheerless Christmas. It's a good thing that the mentality of "If it's bitter just add sugar." didn't prevail. Instead, people decided to slowly but surely work together. Odette was really something to remember. Hopefully, this would be a lesson in better disaster management. This should also be a wake-up call that we need more public services. Fortunately, the Public Services Act of 2022 was signed by Duterte before his term ended. Hopefully, there will be more preparedness in times of disaster. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let's Be Real: Term Limits Cause Political Dynasties to Spiral Out of Control

Inquirer There's always the obsession with political dynasties. There's also the obsession with term limits . Back in the 1990s, I remembered fearing charter change . I was afraid that the late Fidel V. Ramos might become a dictator. The talks that if a president would rule for more than six years--would be considered "frightening" or "nakakatakot" in Tagalog. I wrote an article where I wrote one staggering truth-- a  long reign isn't necessarily tyrannical and that a short reign isn't necessarily benevolent . In my discussion, I highlighted both Pol Pot and Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.--both deceased dictators. Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge dictatorship murdered millions in contrast to Marcos' regime. Of course, some people will say Pol Pot would've caused Cambodia to go extinct if he rhad eigned longer. I remember the logic that I was told back in elementary school. I was told that the reason why term limits are imposed is to prevent another Marcos-...
Post a Comment
Read more

Remembering Ninoy's Words, "We Had a Parliamentary Form of Government WITHOUT a Parliament!"

Some people on Facebook continually spread the lie, "The parliamentary form of government will never work because the Marcos Sr. years were a parliament!" The idea is incredibly stupid when you realize some old information that they probably ignored. It's a shame that some boomers refuse to surf the Internet to find decades-old information  that would prove it otherwise. Come on, are they even too lazy to order Third World to First written by the late Lee Kuan Yew and only use it to criticize the Marcoses?  With the late Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" A. Aquino Jr., I really must highlight that he actually spilled out much truth in this speech done in Los Angeles in 1981: And so my friends, we started with an American-type constitution, we move to a British-type constitution.  We had a parliamentary form of government without a parliament. Until 1978, we did not have a parliament. And yet, we were supposed to be a parliamentary from of government.  And Mr. Marcos said, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Today in History: Hanoi's Liberation Day

Vietnam Times October 10 is mostly associated with Double 10 in Taiwan. However, Communism has its celebration with Hanoi Liberation Day . I got this information from the Vietnam Times on what the day is all about: Along with the victory of Dien Bien Phu campaign, the Geneva Agreements on armistice in Indochina was signed. After many days of struggling in the Geneva Conference, agreements on transfering Hanoi to the Vietnamese people were finally signed on September 30th and October 2nd 1954 in the United Armistice Center Committee. Following the Resolution on September 17th 1954 of the Government Council, the City Troops Committee of Hanoi was established with General Vuong Thua Vu, the commander of the Pioneer Division, as the Chairman and doctor Tran Duy Hung as the Vice Chairman. The City Troops Committee of Hanoi had the task of taking over and managing the city. The Military Commanders ordered the Vietnamese soldier units to take over the city of Hanoi and abide by the policies ...
Post a Comment
Read more