Marlon’s World

It’s 4:30 AM in Spain, which should not be mistaken for the actual equivalence of 11:30 AM in the Philippines. Life slowly begins here at 9:00 AM and I can’t help but remember the lazy 2:00 AM’s I used to spend post-Christmas or pre-Easter in Bulacan. Hence, the way I see it, I should peg the time somewhere between 1 and 2 AM. Speaking qualitatively, of course. I was beginning to make computations when I realized that the answer would not matter at all, you being my captive reader in my blog, nyahahahahaha!

So, why am I awake, you ask? Well, for a variety of reasons: (1) I’m reading Mafalda, a popular hispanic comic book, and I can’t take my hands off it; (2). I had a terrible nightmare and I am mortally afraid — no pun intended — to do a Rico Yan; (3) I was thirsty and had to go for a drink, which unfortunately would mean that I would begin to notice every detail of my dinky little room and would not be able to sleep for a good hour or so; and (4) I took a nap, the portentous siesta, the previous afternoon for three hours.

Siestas should be banned, the obsessive-compulsive in me screams. As a child, I have always had problems with sleeping during the evening since my Lola (rest in peace) required me to doze off even for an hour every single afternoon. The one time we circumvent The Law, an earthquake shook Cabanatuan and a good part of Luzon. That was in the early 90s, and I distinctly remember asking my grandmother why someone would have the guts to bang our front door so loudly. The power was cut off immediately and soon after, hordes of crying grade schoolers were being taken out and consoled by their parents and teachers. It was our first confrontation with a natural calamity in a grand scale. I never missed siesta from then on.

One then realizes that the Philippines is not exactly the safest place to live in. Typhoons are so common and are only useful if you have still not done that project for your science class (class suspensions are inevitable, whoooopeeee!). Houses and buildings are always prone to fire during the summer and the heat wave is unbelievably disgusting. Pollution is getting worse and Philippine drivers are not exactly the most disciplined in the world. On the days you get to escape a disaster, you remember that politics is the real scourge of the country and you feel unsafe all the more. 

Ask those people in Leyte. Well, ask the few who survived. They weren’t squatting in Manila and were living a quiet life in the rural area of Guinsaugon. Then disaster struck; the entire barrio was wiped out in an instant. Those buried, particularly those students and teachers in a school under the mud, called out for help through the mobile phones. Two days later, it becomes increasingly apparent that it would be their last text messages.

It is indeed unnerving to lead a dangerous life, what with all the natural disasters we have in the area. But what is really disconcerting is the fact that this disaster could have claimed fewer lives. Remember Ormoc? Remember Aurora? These are provinces where similar catastrophes happened a few years back. These are provinces that saw an entire generation of people annihilated by a disaster worsened by our lack of discipline and foresight.

I wouldn’t want to rant and rave, but deforestation and environmental degradation expose us to worse repercussions of natural calamities over the years. The abuses against nature have been too plenty and should be put to an end immediately.

Many calls have been made in this respect, from cause-oriented groups to newspaper columnists, but it is immensely sad and stupid that beyond the ensuing brouhaha a few days after the tragedies, no one in government seems to care. On the other hand, when asked about mining, many would be ready to give a yes and the rationale would be the economy. I wouldn’t go further beyond this "pro-economy" argument but let me just say that if the government really wants to have an economic boom — the variety that is felt by all and not just by the economists and statisticians — it should invest in the people and educate them. Or, at least, relocate them: reports have it that the area was regarded as a geohazard as early as December 2003.      

The way I see it, the real tragedy in this disaster is both natural and man-made. And it is exactly that artificiality — that man-madeness — that aggravates the hopelessness of the situation. For the farmer who was probably taking his siesta while the earth crumbled, a lazy Monday morning or a quiet Friday afternoon will never be the same again. ##