This tragedy must be documented as what many have already done through videos posted in Youtube and Facebook and updates in Twitter and in personal websites. For my part, I collected quotes and stories that I encountered through email and the Internet. Ondoy will definitely be part of the national consciousness. Foremost of these is what (fake) Pres. Gloria Arroyo said just few months ago:

Pres. GMA's SONA 2009

Fifth, international authorities have taken notice that we are safer from environmental degradation and man-made disasters. (applause)

As a country in the path of typhoons and in the Pacific Rim of Fire, we must
be prepared as the latest technology permits to anticipate natural calamities when that is possible; to extend immediate and effective relief when it is not; the mapping of flood-and-landslide -prone areas is almost complete.

Early warning, forecasting and monitoring systems have been improved, with weather-tracking facilities in Subic, Tagaytay, Mactan, Mindanao, Pampanga. We have worked on flood control infrastructure like those for Pinatubo, Agno, Laoag, and Abucay, which will pump the run off waters from Quezon City and Tondo flooding Sampaloc. This will help relieve hundreds of hectares in this old city of its age-old woe. (applause)

--GMA, State-Of-the-Nation-Address speech July 27, 2009

Ang lakas ng palakpakan nitong Hulyo lang sa Kongreso nang sinabi yan ni Gloria

NDCC = National Disaster Counting Committee?

Ang ibig sabihin pala ng NDCC eh, National Disaster Counting Committee....magaling magbilang ng mga patay, mga nasugatan, at kung magkano ang halaga na nawala. pere wala naman tao sa labas na tumutulong sa mga nasalanta.

Yun, nagpadala ng mga sundalo at nandoon sa loob ng Gotesco Mall at yung General nila nanawagan pa sa TV na kung pwede yung may may-ari ng mga sasakyan na nakabalandra sa kalsada eh itabi, para makapasok na ang mga tauhan niya... Aba, General nabaha na nga ibig sabihin noon wala nang mga mayari noong kotse dahil lumikas na.. diba dapat mga sundalo na ang magtabi noon.... Dapat tong General na to eh ilublub na sa putikan!!!!!

Feeling artistang General

Nakita nyo ba ang video nung General na nakasakay sa helikopter na nag-e-aerial survey? kumakaway pa ang mokong sa mga taong nasa bubong, parang artista. Hello! kumakaway yung mga nasa bubong para i-rescue no, at hindi nila kailangan ang kaway, kailangan nila ng tulong! Muntik ko nang maitulak yung TV namin. Bka sakaling makasama mahulog yung General. Grrrr!!!

Bumili ng P100,000 na motor boat, on the spot

Yesterday, at the height of the floods, my sister's husband R whose family lives at Provident Village in Marikina, got a call from his brother. They were already at the roof of their 2-storey house -- his brother, his wife, 2 kids, his sister, and their 85-year old dad who just got out of the hospital last week.

Not wanting to rely on our USELESS government to rescue them, R went to Makati and scoured the stores for a motorized boat that he can buy. At around 6 p.m., he finally found a store at Reposo Street selling a 6-seater motorized boat for over 100k. But since water at Reposo was lagpas-tao, he persuaded the store owner to just ride the boat and bring it to Greenbelt where he was.

Immediately after, R put the boat on his pick-up and drove as far as he could en route to Marikina. The nearest dry land was the Sta. Clara Church which was still way too far from Provident. Suffice it to say that for somebody who was maneuvering a motor boat for the first time in his life, R arrived Provident at 12:30 a.m. When he entered the village, everyone was screaming thinking that it was already the government's rescue team. REY WAS THE FIRST TO BRAVE PROVIDENT ON A MOTORIZED BOAT with just SHEER WILL steering him. Meanwhile, our USELESS GOVERNMENT was holding a press conference announcing their relief operations as they kept on saying that they could not get into Provident just yet to save people hanging on to their dear lives on top of their roofs because the currents were too strong for them!! HELLO!!! Please tell me why they can't and my private citizen brother in law who does not even know how to drive a boat before he purchased it could???

R had to turn a deaf ear to people screaming for help as he entered their village because he had his family, especially his 85-year old dad in mind. The waters were too high that he was actually holding on to the Meralco wires! He was shouting for his brother's name as he could not even locate where their house was amidst the sea of mudwater. When he finally found them, he had to hold back from breaking down as he saw his dad at the apex of their roof holding to a string of blankets just so he will not get swept by the currents! He "parked" his boat on their roof gutter and first loaded his dad and 8-year old nephew who by that time was already chilling from the cold. They have been atop the roof since 1 p.m. with wet clothes on and no food or water to even drink.

It took R 2 hours to navigate back to Sta. Clara church to drop off his dad and nephew, came back for his sister in law and another nephew. It was 3 a.m. by the time Rey reached Sta. Clara church again, with his sister in law and nephew, before making a final trip to get his sister. By this time, media were there and NDCC people assisting his sister-in-law to get off the boat. GIDO TEODORO had the gall to tell media that government rescue operations are now on-going, alluding to the footage of my brother in law rescuing his family!!! And these stupid NDCC people were even asking R's sister in law to remove her life jacket and return to them! Hello, everything was theirs, from the boat, to the life jackets, to the sheer will and determination to keep their family alive!!!

He wanted to keep coming back to save his other neighbors but his tired body could not anymore. So he decided to take a rest at his sister's house at Valle Verde till around 9 a.m. today. Then they went back only to find how cars were piled up like matchboxes. His brother's Patrol, Camry, and Galant were supposed to be safely parked at the village main avenue as historically this was the highest point of the village. Sadly, the cars were nowhere to be found, washed away like toy cars... but what was even worse was seeing bodies already floating around, including the body of a 3-month old baby stuck in a car windshield!

As it was too devastating a sight for them to take already, they decided to just lend the boat to for others to use to save more lives.

Meanwhile, we see our government making all these excuses why they cannot save people faster... Meanwhile we hear of Devil Gloria Arroyo spending the PHP 800 million emergency contingecy fund to finance her recent foreign trips... Meanwhile we hear of Mikey Arroyo shamelessly admitting how his net worth ballooned within the few years that his family have been in power! SUCH SHAMELESS GREED!!!

I love the Philippines and I do wish for a better Philippines for my children's sake. But during times like these it makes you wish that you were living in another country where you dial 911 and help will be forthcoming.

R had the presence of mind, sheer will, and financial resources to buy a boat on the spot and put matters into his own hands. But what if it were the other way around and he had to wait for our USELESS GOVERNMENT to rescue his dad? We only shudder at the thought of what would have happened to his family, especially Lolo M, if and when rescue finally comes --which for many less fortunate souls, until now have not come!

20 or so dead in Provident Village

We have a distant relative too who lives in Provident Village and we have
not heard from them but relatives are searching. The news said that in
Provident alone, 20 dead were found.

Pasig River rehabilitation

Sometime late April last year, the Pasig River Rehab Commission / DENR invited the Danish Hydraulics Institute to submit a proposal for the computer simulation of the Pasig River. It was related to the proposed Euros 550 million Pasig River Dredging Project .

Euros 350 million was a loan from the Belgian Government and the balance of Euros 200 million by the Philippine government.

A proposal was submitted and the company was invited to make a presentation. Danish experts came in from Denmark and Singapore .Attendees included the PRRC Executive Director and DENR officials.

After some brain picking, they were informed that there was no budget for the computer simulation . However, they can get some money from some “discretionary funds” amounting to less than a million pesos (taxes included) and asked if they can deliver whatever that amount is good for.

Theywere also informed that they were mandated to justify the Pasig River Dredging Project.

That was the end of their participation in the proposed project.

Bayani on TV
On TV, the pick-and-shovel Flood Czar and MMDA chair Bayani Fernando said (and hold on to your seat):

"I am to blame.... and everyone else."

Abolish the government and replace it with "bayanihan"

I live in eastern Manila where san Juan, marikina, pasig, cainta, tanay and other munipalities of Rizal near Laguna Lake are located.

I have seen and personally experience how streets, villages and communities turned into wild running river and not just swamps but a network of lake destroying hard earned houses and properties of ordinary and decent families while killing lives and seeinng before their eyes their own helplessness.

Rich or poor alike lost everything except their resilliency and the will to live as well as their common bonds to help their running neighbors.

How can i described one presidentiable who claim to be a national disaster head who cannot coordinate in times of great peril. There was no cooridnating council then but only disaster exist. Parang pelikula na dumarating pag tapos na ang boxing. Choopers can only waster their fuel while unable to creatively think how to secure enginners to clear floodways destroyed by garbage and waste.

Another revealation in this experience is the upreparedness of LGU disaster preparedness councils. There was no immediate rubber boats from the NDCC and it seems that there was no government at that time.

I rather see the abolition of government and let the people's determination, resiliency and bayanihan prevail. This email ogie is in solidarity to those who are killed because there was no systematic warning and monitoring system with regards to river and water way system in Metro Manila.

In solidarity also to those citizen and neighborhoods as well as all ordinary citizens bravely help their fellow Filipino in times of hunger, crisis and emergency.

While writing this, please help call the AFP engineers and medics to move forward to the interiors of eastern communities. They dont need armed carriers or tanks or even armed soldiers but the civil defense component of the AFP.

Tsaka bago manawagan na manghingi ng tulong sa ibang bansa, pakipaliwanag yung pondo sa Disaster preparedness and sa sinasabing 800M emergency fund use for foreign travel.

Pass disaster management law

House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Satur Ocampo today appealed for more donations to augment its relief operations in the hardest hit areas of Metro Manila.

"There is a very pressing need for food (rice, canned goods, noodles, salt, etc), clothing, blankets, mats and medicines. We appeal to our friends and compatriots here and abroad to send what they can spare for our kababayans who have lost their homes in wrath of Typhoon Ondoy. Donations can be coursed through our Bayan Muna congressional offices and the national headquarters in Quezon City," Ocampo said.

The progressive solon also reiterated the call on the House leadership to immediately pass the consolidated version of the Philippine Disaster Management Act, saying that "since I filed my proposed measure in the 12th Congress, the legislature has not been able to finish the job."

Ocampo is the main author of House Bill 2587 - An Act Strengthening Philippine Disaster Management and Creating the National Disaster Management Commission and Providing Funds Therefor - among the earliest disaster reduction and management bills in the 14th Congress.

"Whatever disaster readiness plan government now has is completely inadequate. Congress should immediately act on its own with or without the imprimatur of the Palace," Ocampo said.

"The Senate has passed its version of the bill on third reading. But the final consolidated bill (now titled Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2009) has remained at the committee level in Congress since the panel was still awaiting the input of Defense Secretary and National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) chairman Gilbert Teodoro and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Now that Metro Manila is the area hit hard by a storm, we hope Congress can now fast-track the bill," he added.

Ocampo furthered that "government needs to undertake a full range of programs in disaster preparedness, including education, training and organizing that are not being fully addressed under the present set-up. The Department of National Defense (DND) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are already burdened with other responsibilities. As a result, government actions in disaster management have been generally limited to reactive measures such as inadequate rescue and relocation operations as seen in Marikina, Pasig and many other areas. This is why we need to beef up current relief operations in the said areas as well as push for the passage of a new disaster management law."

Co-authors of House Bill 2587 are Reps. Teddy Casino and Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna), Liza Maza and Luzviminda Ilagan (Gabriela), Rafael Mariano and Joel Maglunsod (Anakpawis) and Monico Puentevella (Bacolod City)

Act of God

i was discussing the same with my uncle back home, he said: some insurance companies will not pay people because it is "an act of God". i said bull crap. they make so much money out of these people and when it is time for them to really help out, they have the gall to say "act of God" bull crap. I dont think God is capable of doing such acts. sigh.

We'll not listen to any appeals from the government

Okay pa rin ang kabataan, sana ipagpatuloy nila ito. Sabagay, noong kapanuhan natin - mayroon ding idealism, may mga "Serve the People" brigades noon, tulad noong baha sa Central Luzon (July-August, 1972), na sinundan ng mas malaking bagyo't baha...ang "Typhoon Macoy".

Siyanga pala - ang maliit na grupo namin dito ay nagkaisang tumulong din, at sa wari ko, ang isang sa mga rekomendado mong sites ang makakaasa sa maliit na tulong namin. Nagkaisa kaming doon ipadala sa CDRC. Alam mo - nag-"urgent call" for aid ang Philippine Embassy doon sa Washington, ang sabi ni ambassador doon daw ipadala iyong aid "direct" sa Dept. of Social Welfare. Ang sagot ko, "Pwe!" We'll do it our way, mas may tiwala pa kami sa mga kasama't mga NGO.

Sa pagka-ngayon, pera ang mas madaling iparating doon sa 'pinas, at iyong mga goods tulad ng sabon, etc. - saka na lang. But yes, the local Filipino community here will be gathering on Oct. 16 to collect and pack the goods that need to be sent to Manila. Our local FOREX agent who's also active in Gawad Kalinga has offered to ship balikbayan boxes for free, as long as they are relief goods. But no, we'll not listen to any appeals from any Phil. Consulate right now!

More stories to be posted