Difficulty

We are all having difficulty understanding the magnitude of the calamity wrought by typhoon Haiyan.

I have a feeling that unless any of us here in Manila was ACTUALLY there in those places that were destroyed by typhoon Yolanda, DURING THE ONSLAUGHT, NONE OF US can really understand or even get a clear picture of WHAT ACTUALLY TRANSPIRED THERE and what the residents, victims and survivors, went through, have been theough, and will continue to go through for God knows how long. So, I do not think that any of us have any right to make any form of judgement on anyone — victims, mayors, army, relief workers, looters, congressmen, cabinet officials, the President, the US, etc, etc, etc, ….ANYONE.

Eventually, when all this is over, we will have the tiem to make a full assessement of what happened: how strong the typhoon was, how powerful the storm surge was, what brought about the strongest typhoon in history, just how great the extent and magnitude of the destruction was, whether or not the local governments were prepared, whether or not the local residents were indeed being complacent, what preparations could have been made aside from what was done, how we can prepare for future calamities, how we can improve our response to future calamities, who among our government officials did not do their jobs, who among them were incompetent, who among them were insentive, who were politicking, who took advatage of the situation to further selfish interests, whether corruption is to blame for weak points in disaster preparedness, whether the national government is not addressing the situation properly, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Eventually we will have the time to do all of that. It may take weeks or even months, but eventually we will be able to discuss those issues. BUT NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO DO THAT. Because as we continue to bicker about whodid or is doing the wrong thing, those who survived the worst typhoon in history are SUFFERING.

For 4 days now, they have had no food. No water. No belongings. No home. NOTHING. Those of us (including myself) who still engage in finger-pointing, mud-slinging, complaining, meme-whoring, and what-not, WE STILL DO NOT GET IT. What we are seeing in the news is still not registering with us. People in Tacloban, Guian, Palo, Capiz, Bantayan, all these survivors, have just gone through A LIVING HELL AND THEY ARE STILL IN IT. So, as we in Manila and other places that were not affected by the disaster sit comfortably behind our PCs passing meme after meme after meme, THE SURVIVORS OF THE DISASTER ARE DYING A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH. Again, NO FOOD. NO WATER. DEAD FAMILY MEMBERS. NO SIGN OF HOPE. And this is just day four.+

I am not trying to pass judgement on anyone. I am only saying that some of us might want to re-think our perceptions, words, and actions. And instead of making things harder for those who are already doing what they can to help, let us focus our energies instead to supporting them, if not with actions, with our words at the very least.

Let’s keep in mind that this tragedy is unprecedented. Caused by the most powerful typhoon in recorded history. That brought about a storm surge which is likely what caused most of the deaths. This is something we will always have difficulty to wrap our heads around. Not only because, unlike the tsunami in Japan, it was virtually impossible to have a top view of the deluge as it happened. But moreso, because we were not there when it did.+

(This article was written four days after Typhoon Haiyan battered the Philippines in November 2013)