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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.

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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.

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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. 

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