The recent flash floods in Luzon brought about by Typhoon Ondoy brought back memories of the July-August Floods of 1972, less than two months before martial law was declared by President Marcos.
I was a recently hired reporter for the Philippines Daily Express and was at the same time a senior student at the University of the Philippines Institute of Mass Communications.
A series of typhoons hit Metro Manila and Luzon starting in July that year, with Manila receiving 70 inches of rains during the month. On July 13, heavy rains caused several dikes to fail and 32 people died in the resulting flood. After just a few days, another typhoon poured even heavier rains even before the floods could subside. More dikes broke down, flooding large areas in South, Central and Northern Luzon. Millions were left homeless and 142 people died. Nearly all major and minor roads were rendered impassable.
The heavy rains continued until August 4, but not before rivers overflowed, flooding even more areas and destroying rice and other agricultural crops, forcing hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes, and causing food riots in some areas. Cholera and typhoid spread.
Several militant student organizations at UP and other universities immediately hit the road as soon as the rains stopped on August 4. My future wife, Marisse, and I were among the many student volunteers who went door-to-door in Quezon City and nearby cities to ask for donations of food, used clothes, blankets, mats and groceries for the flood victims in Luzon.
That same week, Marisse and I joined hundreds of student volunteers to the flooded areas on trucks and pick-ups to distribute the goods and help in some other ways, like cleaning and repairing homes. We first went to Laguna, where the floods were still chest-high, and then to Angeles, Pampanga, and later to Dagupan, Pangasinan, bringing with us relief goods to help the victims somehow ease the pain of losing homes, valuables and even loved ones’ lives.
I was warned by my editor that I could lose my job if I didn’t come back to report for work, but my youthful idealism prevailed and we went on to help the flood victims. I came back after nine days, and my job, fortunately, was still there. My editor covered up for me.
I am confident that many of the Filipino youths are in the thick of typhoon relief operations at this time, as we were in 1972, and perhaps even more so because of modern technology – such as cell phones and the internet — that has made it easier to mobilize people and to locate areas that needed help badly. In fact, it is heartwarming to read through various e-mail groups and internet sites, such as Facebook, My Space, Twitter, You Tube, etc. that many organizations of young and not-so-young alike have mobilized to help those badly in need of rescue and relief.
In those cold days of 1972, there was almost no way you could communicate from the flooded areas. You were all alone out there with your fellow volunteers and the flood victims.
It is in times of tragedies, calamities and disasters that the true character of a people is measured. And I am proud to say that Filipinos have shown that they are capable of sacrifice, unity and selflessness in this and past disasters.
I was heartened to see Filipino community leaders gather at the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles Monday night in short notice to help map out strategies on how to best help their kababayans in the most speedy way. A couple of days after the Ondoy floods, many organizations, led by the Philippine Emergency Disaster Relief Organization (PEDRO), reported that they have already put in place plans to bring donations of cash and goods as fast as possible to the affected areas.
For years, overseas Filipinos have kept the Philippine economy afloat, while at the same time bringing some comfort and relief to their family and friends, by dutifully sending in their remittances to the homeland. More than ever, it has now become incumbent upon overseas Filipinos to again come to the aid of their countrymen devastated by yet another natural disaster. Understandably, the prolonged economic downturn would constrain our ability to help. But if more people would pitch in this time, it would certainly go a long way in helping the affected families recover from this latest tragedy.
One concern that was raised during the consulate community meeting was the restrictive laws that pertain to donations from overseas organizations. One particular law that, to my mind, must be relaxed even for a few weeks is the prohibition on the sending of used clothing.
Republic Act No. 4653, otherwise known as “An Act to Safeguard the Health of the People and Maintain the Dignity of the Nation by Declaring it a National Policy to Prohibit the Commercial Importation of Textile Articles Commonly Known as Used Clothing and Rags.” In compliance with this law, Section 105 of the Revised Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines stipulates: “Donation/Importation of used clothing shall be strictly prohibited to safeguard the health of the people and maintain the dignity of the nation.”
This strict provision of the law was made after it was discovered that tons of used clothing that were purportedly sent from abroad as donations to needy Filipinos were being diverted to shops commonly known as “ukay-ukay.” At the same, it was established at that time that some recipients of the used clothing contracted diseases that were traced to the used clothing.
While we understand the lawmakers’ concerns, the government must consider the desperate conditions that now prevail over the areas inundated by typhoon Ondoy, where hundreds of thousands of people lost all their belongings, including their clothes. These people will get even more sick if they can’t replace the wet clothes on their backs. Will people even understand the meaning of “dignity of the nation” in these desperate times?
Cash, is of course, the donation of choice, for the simple reason that it can get to the country fastest and, in addition, can help stimulate the Philippine economy. But in these difficult times, many overseas workers can ill afford to give out cash, but would be willing to give away old, but still usable clothes and small groceries and goods that they can purchase from Walmart and 99 Cents stores.
Whatever people can pitch in, the bottom line reflects one of the two popular sentences that typing students often use for practice: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.”