BAGYO

AFTER A NIGHT of heavy rains and strong winds, the sun crept slowly this morning. The typhoon is now headed towards the Pacific, after making landfall at the Izu Peninsula, passing by Tokyo, and neighboring cities. I STAYED up late. Quite unusual since I am an early bird. But last night I was so worried, I couldn't sleep. I just had to stay up. The wind was so strong I heard the consistent banging of the shutters outside. I was afraid the main TV antennae would give way..... The house stands great, thank God! THIS MORNING, I woke up to find that the banging has stopped. I turned on the TV and found that a 55-year- old man died some twelve kilometers away. Cause of death? He heard some loud sounds outside his home. He went out to check what it was all about. What he didn't realize was that that sound came from roof tiles of his own house falling. As he stepped outside, he was hit by the falling roof tiles on his chest. He died minutes later. I thought, " what a way to go! Poor soul!" ANOTHER 45-year-old company employee was hurt when a billboard hit him as he was walked home last night. Same with a 27-y/o from Shizuoka. Good grief!!! And the billboards were relatively small, compared with those I've seen along EDSA. A THOUGHT popped into my mind: what if... those gigantic billboards in EDSA and elsewhere give way? At the rate typhoons visit Inang Bayan, are those BBs safe? Do we have a controlling body in RP that monitors BBs? I've seen the proliferation of BBs thus paving the way for the uglification of EDSA whenever I pass by that area. TYPHOONS ARE constant in the Islands. We have been used to it. But what we have not realized up to this time is that the government has not made any effort to address basic preparations to protect the people. In times of calamities, we only wait 'until it is over.' We never make any preventive measures to at least minimize damage brought by natural disasters like typhoons. DISASTER-PREVENTION PROGRAMS are not instituted. Kung meron man, marahil, ito ay "sa papel" lamang. Meron ba tayong 'INFORMATION DRIVE to let the citizens know 'WHAT-TO-DO' if-and-when disaster strikes? Meron ba tayong designated EVACUATION CENTERS? Meron ba tayong paraan para maipaalam sa mga taumbayan ang paraan para ma-mobilize ang taumbayan sa panahon ng kalamidad? MALINIS BA ang mga estero/ kanal/ sewage system/ atbp.? Naturuan ba ang taumbayan na ihiwalay ang basura" ang plastik/bote/papel/ atbp.? Nakokolekta ba ang mga basura? MARAMING TANONG ngunit tila walang sagot. Ang BAYAN ay napapabayaan dahil sa may mga taong ang vtanging hangad ay mapanatili sa poder ng kapangyarihan. Samantala, patuloy pa rin ang pagdating ng BAGYO sa ating Bayan at sa puso ng bawa't mamamayan.