Where Is The President?

Could I ask for more prayers please?

I am concerned about those greatly affected  by typhoon Rolly especially in the province of Albay, the Bicol region and those areas it crossed on its path on its way out to the West Philippine Sea. If you could only see the pictures – some had their houses inundated and they stayed at the rooftop of their homes, some three hundred families were buried in big rocks and the lahar flow from Mayon Volcano. This reminds me of typhoon Ondoy that struck Metro Manila eleven years ago. That was the worst typhoon I have ever witnessed in my life. We had to evacuate and when we returned, our house was like a big “bodega” –  furniture, personal effects, wet clothes, books and what have you, there was a thick mud all over the place. We had to renovate and replace those cabinets that toppled down, with permanent cabinet fixtures.

That time, I was in the middle of chemotherapy and one of my classmates in high school was kind enough to fetch me at home and bring me to the hospital. Our car was submerged by the flood. That pretty much made me so afraid of storms and typhoons. Every time it rains hard, I am always on the lookout. Disaster after disaster and we are still in the middle of this Covid 19 pandemic. So really, really sad.

“Where’s the president?” That was the trending question on social media even before the typhoon struck but he was nowhere, not even to give reassurance to the people. When typhoon Yolanda hit the country, Pres. Aquino and most of his cabinet members were ready and they personally went to Eastern Samar to supervise everything. That’s the big difference with the leader now, he is always missing every time a calamity strikes us. News says he stayed in Davao and we’ve not heard even a kind word from   him. Maybe he is still asleep because he has been missing for sometime now. Would you call that a good leader?

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Gloomy Sunday

They are playing Only Friends on the radio which I blogged about two weeks ago. I never get tired  listening to it though.

I am digressing again.

It’s a good thing I attended an anticipated mass last night. I spent most of the morning  searching for news online and listening to the radio on  news about typhoon Karen. We were under signal #2 but we were lucky that we were spared of heavy rains and gusty winds. Typhoon Karen (international name: Sarika) slightly accelerated  a few hours ago  over the coastal waters of Pangasinan but hear this, tomorrow there is another one that will enter PAR (Philippine Are of Responsibility) and news reports say it is a super typhoon, stronger than the last one we experienced today.  Haima will be named locally as Lawin. I am praying hard we won’t be affected too much.  It is the middle of October and yet we are still experiencing severe weather disturbances.  Sometimes these late in the year weather disturbances are stronger than those we experience during rainy season.  Sometimes they come as late as December.

I am sharing a prayer with all of you  a prayer for deliverance from calamities.

ORATIO IMPERATA

Almighty Father,

We raise our hearts to You in gratitude, for the wonders of creation of which we are part, for Your providence in sustaining us in our needs, and for Your wisdom that guides the course of the universe.

We acknowledge our sins against You and the rest of Your creation. We have not been good stewards of nature. We have confused Your command to subdue the earth. The environment is made to suffer our wrongdoing, and now we reap the harvest of our abuse and indifference.

Global warning is upon us. Typhoons, floods, volcanic eruption, and other natural calamities occur in the increasing number and intensity.

We turn to you, our loving Father, and beg forgiveness for our sins.

We ask that we, our loved ones and our hard earned possessions be spared from the threat of calamities, natural and man-made.

We beseech You to inspire us all to grow into responsible stewards of Your creation, and generous neighbors to those in need. Amen

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Go Away Ruby, We Don’t Need You Here

I am getting nervous. I’ve been monitoring weather reports, press briefings, special coverage in preparation for the coming typhoon (it has already entered Phil. Area of Responsibility) and searching on other web pages about typhoon Ruby. It’s ironic that the very name Hagupit, a Tagalog word which means lash, blow, beating or  strike is the international name of a typhoon which the Philippines has contributed to the list of  tropical cyclones for this year. Locally, we have different names of weather disturbances. Ruby has been classified by JTWC (Joint Typhoon Warning Center) as super typhoon. As of 11am today, DOST  PAGASA’s latest report said that typhoon Ruby has maintained its strength as it continues to move west-northwest towards Eastern Samar-Northern Samar area. For those who have heard of typhoon Haiyan, known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines,  and is believed to be the strongest recorded tropical cyclone ever to make landfall and the fourth strongest tropical cyclone in history, with wind speeds (at landfall) of 195 mph (314 km/h) which devastated the Philippines last year, Samar in the Visayas is the same area that is on the track of typhoon Ruby. PAGASA has raised typhoon signal number 2 in several areas in Luzon and the Visayas and signal number 1 in other areas including Mindanao.

When you live in a place where typhoons and tropical cyclones are regular visitors, no matter how careful you are, there will always be that tight knot of fear in your heart. Nature as its worse is also one of the worst enemies of mankind. To think that those Yolanda survivors haven’t completely recovered yet from the wrath of the typhoon  and here is another one that would surely bring more devastations.

They say that Metro Manila won’t be directly hit by the typhoon but it is included in its wide ring band that would bring intense rain which would likely bring flash flood again. I have done our groceries early this morning, buying canned goods and other items like batteries for flashlights and radio that we could use if worse comes to worse. I have recharged our lanterns and cellphones but still thinking of transferring our car to a higher place in the neighborhood. Better be prepared than be sorry.

I am praying hard just like  some of our friends in the social media who have launched a prayer brigade that this typhoon won’t bring too much havoc and upheaval to our beautiful country. I pray that we would all have presence of mind, courage and faith that this storm would leave us still hopeful of a meaningful and happy Christmas 2014. I want to share this lovely prayer shared by the Diocese of Borongan, Samar.

We also need your prayers. Please pray for our country.

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