Mauie Flores

The sin tax law has finally been signed and has been in effect starting the first day of 2013. I am one of the people who are happy with this historic development because I strongly oppose smoking and dislike second-hand smoke like it's the plague. I know that, somehow, with the higher taxes that the government is now imposing on cigarettes and liquor, less Filipinos will get into the habit.

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Last Saturday was as busy as I expected it to be. My boys both had classes, Rap with his MTAP and my husband with his IT training class at MFI. I had planned to do my Christmas shopping errands while Rap's in school. During lunch, I checked my Twitter and Facebook accounts where I found out about the tragedy that happened in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City at the height of Typhoon Washi (Sendong).

Immediately, flashbacks of our town during Ondoy came back. I vividly remember how difficult it was to find sources of food and water. The floods brought by Sendong brought worse damage than Ondoy because it came at almost midnight. Most of the people who died were sleeping when the water rose. The pictures were heartbreaking and I haven't even seen everything yet.

Because of this,I decided to cut my Christmas shopping budget to give me more funds to offer help for the victims of the typhoon. The only gifts I bought according to my pre-assigned budget were the ones for our little nephews and nieces and our godchildren. I know the adults will understand that we cannot splurge on their presents this time. I hope I still can find inexpensive jewelry beads, though, for some of our female relatives.

I've already starting donating via SMS [Text REDAMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4143 (Smart)] to the Red Cross. I'll also be sharing some of our blessings to my fellow bloggers in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City who will surely have a challenging time this Christmas. I still have to pick out some old clothes from our closets to donate via the LBC Foundation. This is only what we can afford to share but, as long as more people care to share, we can make a huge difference.


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Twenty-five years ago, Filipinos shook the world by making a peaceful revolution possible. Photos of that glorious day in EDSA showed a sea of people in yellow stopping tanks with only flowers and rosaries in their hands.



Where were you on February 25, 1986?

I was in first-grade then so I only have faint memories of the EDSA People Power revolt. All I can remember was hearing my cousins (who were living with us then) being surprised seeing Channel 4 being on air again with Aquino supporters hosting the show. We were living in Makati back then so were kinda sheltered from what was really happening in EDSA. I'm not sure if my dad joined the crowds that day but I'm sure that my mother didn't because she was a loyalista. (She's still a die-hard Marcos supporter, ugh!)

During Recognition Day, a month after, I remember being part of a tribute to the People Power Revolution. The song in the video, "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo," was sung in the school program. My sister was cast as a nun while my younger brother was came as a soldier. I, on the other hand, sang this song:



I regret that I have been born a little later. How I wish I have fully witnessed what happened in EDSA 25 years ago. Now, all I can do is to re-read all the news articles and recounts of actual witnesses.

Even my boy has become interested in learning about the history of the People Power Revolution. As I was writing an entry about the best acne treatments, he was watching "A Dangerous Life" on YouTube. I believe that we should keep the EDSA spirit alive within the youth by teaching them the story behind the peaceful revolution.

Where were you 25 years ago? I'd love to hear your EDSA People Power story.

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Have you read about PAGASA's forecast for summer? Weather experts predict that we will be having a short, wet summer. One typhoon is expected to come in March, two in April, and two in May. Furthermore, the agency is expecting two to three typhoons to enter the Philippines come June. All of these changes, they say, are brought about by global warming.

I am really worried about this. Being from Cainta, I still have this huge trauma from the Typhoon Ondoy floods that ravaged our town in 2009. Secondly, two family events are going to be held in May and June. I'm planning to rent a private pool in May for my boy's 11th birthday. Meanwhile, we have already booked plane tickets to Naga City in early June to attend my niece's debut. If this rainy spell continues, I'll probably just wear muck boots for my niece's debut.

This is really sad. I pray that we still have time to reverse the effects of global warming.


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Everyday, local newspapers reek of news about crimes and, more often than not, one of it is drug related. There is no exact information or statistics about the actual number of drug users in the country. Wrongdiagnosis.com, however, estimates the number at 1,268,260. The numbers could be lower than that but we should also remember that not all drug addicts have come out of the open.

Substance abuse, like any addiction, would need an addiction treatment program. Resisting drugs is not an easy task for a drug addict because, when not done gradually, the cravings only become greater and the health of the drug user may be compromised. This is why they should undergo drug rehabilitation programs with medical professionals for successful healing.

Below is a list of drug rehab centers in the Philippines:

Narcotics Group-drug Rehabilitation Center
Camp R. Papa, Bicutan, Taguig, Metro Manila
837-2471

Gabay Ng Diwa Drug Rehabilitation Center
Timog Subd. Pampanga, Angeles City
602-10-20

DDB-Treatment and Rehabiliation Center
#25 Newport cor. Marlboro Street, East Faiview, Quezon City
Tel. No. 939-5917

Manila Drug Rehabilitation Center
North Cementery Compound, Blumentritt, Sta. Cruz, Manila
Tel. No. 0973-774-070

Parañaque Anti-drug Abuse Council Holding / Diagnostic Center
Paranaque City Hall Complex, San Antonio, Sucat, Paranaque City
Tel. Nos. 829-09-13; 826-00-11 to 19

Quezon City Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center
Diamond Hills Subd., Group II, Area B, Brgy. Payatas, Quezon City
427-14-74; 922-23-58 c/o QCADA

NBI-treatment and Rehabilitation Center
Tagayiay City
413-13-34; 525-7414

Tahanan Ng Kabataan Ng Laguna
c/o Prov'l Social Welfare and Development Office, Brgy. Bungkol, Magdalena, Laguna
808-10-66; 888-22-94

Rizal Provincial Drug Rehabilitation Center
Palayang Bayan, Brgy. Cuyambay, Tanay, Rizal
632-9823

Nargroup-drug Rehabilitation and After Care Center
Camp Maxilom, Salinas Drive, Lahug, Cebu City
(032) 2314752

Davao City Rehabilitation Center for Drug Dependents
Bago Oshiro, Tugbok, Davao City
227-1435

Laoag City Treatment & Rehabilitation Center for Drug and Chemical Substance Abuse
Brgy. Nalbo, Laoag City

Damascus Foundation, Inc.
Poblacion, Dona Remedios, Trinidad, Bulacan
(0912) 213-2337

Rebirth Philippines Therapeutic Communiiy Foundation, Inc.
# 71 Wakas South, Pilar Bataan
237-2538

St. Agustin Drug Rehabilitation Foundation, Inc.
Lugam, Malolos, Bulacan
0973-431-404

Restorer of the Breach Drug Rehabilitation Center
#5 Gen. Luna Street, Ususan, Taguig, Metro Manila
642-88-39

Kapatiran Kaunlaran Therapeutic Community for Women
P. Paredes Street, Sampaloc, Manila
735-46-61 to 64

Kapatiran Kaunlaran Therapeutic Community for Men
P. Paredes Street, Sampaloc, Manila
735-46-61 to 64

Marikina Holding Center
Brgy. Marikina Heights, Marikina City
948-0027; 948-02-51

Masigla Foundation, Inc.
2263 Taft Avenue, Manila
523-17-86

New Beginnings Treatment and Rehabilitation Center
#40 Cairo Street, Phase 3 B.F. Homes, Paranaque City
827-5140; 633-0223

New Beginnings Halfway House
29 LPL Avenue, Levitown Executive Homes, Better Living, Paranaque City
842-43-48

New Beginnings Detoxification Center
31 Cairo Street, B.F. Homes, Paranaque City
827-51-40

Sunrise Hill Therapeutic Community
#20 11th Street, New Manila, Quezon City

Daytop Philippines
Brgy. Maitim, Aguinaldo Highway, Tagaytay City
(046) 860-05-59

Amor Rehabilitation Center Foundation, Inc.
Delos Santos Street, Brgy. Gulod, Malaya, Barrio Ampid, San Mateo Rizal
649-41-64; 64941-65

Seagulls Flight Foundation, Inc.
Harmony Road, Ginhawa South, Tagaytay City
(0912) 881-3647; 526-8830

Drug Abusers Welfare Network (DAWN) Foundation, Inc.
178 Mabini Street, Salaban, Amadeo, Cavite
(046) 413-1715

Reach Foundation Inc. Drug Rehabilitation Center
Paglaum Village, Bacolod City
708-61-57

Emmanuel Home Foundation, Inc.
Calle de Amelia Villa Valderama, Bacolod City

Negros Occidental Mental Health Center (Treatment Center for Drug Dependents W/ Psychosis) Paglaum Village, Bacolod City

Salazar's Metamorphosis Rehabilitation Center
1014 Sitio-Bumbon, Barrio Ugong, Valenzuela City
444-19-32 to 33

Shepherd Drug Rehabilitation, Inc.
#3 Scout Albano Street, South Triangle, Quezon City
373-38-98; 410-56-98

Well-spring Foundation, Inc.
40-B Maayusin Street, UP Village East, Diliman, Quezon City
920-59-93; 927-97-74

Bob Garon Rehabilitation Center
Barrio Lapu-Lapu 1st, San Jose Batangas
825-79-97

Help International Christian Missionary Community Drug Rehabilitation Ministry, Inc.
Red Finch Drive, Victoria Valley, Antipolo City
658-48-95; 658-05-29

DARE-Pag-asa
Trece Martires, Cavite
724-26-41

SELF-Enhancement for Life Foundation. Inc.
506 Southgate Bldg, Finance Drive, Madrigal Business Park, Alabang, Muntinlupa City
809-3491

Camp-Drug Abuse Management Network (Camp-DAMN)
Brgy. Pansol, Calamba, Laguna

House of Hope, Inc.
Gun-ob, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu
032-340-7941

Philippine Teen Challenge, Inc.
San Carlos Heights, Basak, Pardo, Cebu City

Southwest Educational & Development Academy (SEDA)
Varda Street, Perpetual Valley Subd., Labangon, Cebu City
261-03-09

Sunshine Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center
Abong-abong, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur
991-08-80; 991-2046 c/o ZADAC

The list was taken from: http://www.rehab.go.jp/english/whoclbc/DoF/FacilitiesinPhilippines.html. Should there be any changes in the contact details, please feel free to comment here so I can update the list.

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A Facebook friend posted, "It feels so first world..." with the Philippine election results ready in just two days. I agree. And it somehow gives me a sense of pride that I was part of history. Last Monday, my husband I trooped to the public school nearby to cast our vote. Armed with a fan and a bottle of cold water, I prepared myself for the long queue to the PCOS machine. It was 2 in the afternoon and the heat was unbearable outside.

Surprisingly, what my Plurk and Twitter friends ranted about in their respective areas were not applicable in my place. The teachers in Marick Elementary School in our barangay were accommodating and were very organized. We were done in less than a quarter of an hour - from finding our precint number down to the application of the indelible ink on our fingers. I was so relieved that I didn't get to have problems feeding my ballot into the PCOS machine. I even stayed for a little while to see how my husband and the other voters inserted their ballots into the machine. Hahaha, I was like a tot who's amazed with a supermarket barcode scanner!

My president did not win and he conceded to the new president the following day. Then again, I am still proud that it is the oval beside his name that I shaded. He dreamed to transform the country and I believe that he can still do so even without being president.

How was your first automated voting experience?

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Binalot and I go a long way back. I remember, the first time I had a banana-wrapped meal from this popular food chain was more than a decade ago. My dad was admitted at the old Medical City and he hated hospital food so we always had Binalot food delivered. It was unique, ingenious, and very Pinoy. Last February 10, 2010, I witnessed the other side of this "truly Pinoy" fast food restaurant as I was introduced to the company's DAHON Program.


Binalot started in 1996 as a small food delivery service. In a more than a decade of serving binalot (wrapped) meals, the small enterprise has already grown into a full-fledged fastfood restaurant and a Pinoy household name. Binalot also showcases Filipino creativity with its environmental-friendly and innovative banana leaf-wrapped meals and wittingly named menu. For instance, the ordinary-sounding fried tilapia and boneless bangus are called Pride Tilapia and No Bones Daing na Bangus respectively.

Binalot Fiesta Foods has also devoted itself in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which entails giving back something to the community. While most CSR endeavors focused in providing short-term community programs, Binalot took the giant leap (or Leaf of Faith as they say) and developed a highly sustainable program that provided benefits for both the company and the community as well. The said program is now known as DAHON (Dangal at Kabuhayan para sa Nayon) Program.

I was a part of a group of bloggers who were brought to Brgy. Buhanginan in Nagcarlan, Laguna where the DAHON Program started. Honestly, of all the blogger events I have attended, what I saw upon arriving at the site was so far the warmest welcome I have ever received. Kids from the Daycare Center, which is also supported by the program, greeted us with banners and wide smiles.


We were then introduced to the humble beginnings of the DAHON Program which started in 2007. After the country suffered from Bagyong Milenyo (Typhoon Xangsane) in 2006, Binalot found it hard to find inexpensive, yet, high quality sources of banana leaves which they formerly acquired from public markets and traders in Metro Manila. They decided to travel south and found Rodney in Brgy. Buhanginan.



Rodney is a former tambay (jobless) and it was pure luck on his part that he was sitting by the roadside when the Binalot team asked for a banana leaf supplier in the area. He did not think twice unlike the other two persons which the Binalot team has spoken to prior to their meeting. Rodney led them to his grandmother who was already selling banana leaves but at limited quantities. He related his surprise and excitement when Binalot placed a large order of banana leaves from them.








At present, Rodney serves as the coordinator of the program in their community. Together with Binalot, the DAHON Program provides regular jobs to the farmers in Brgy. Buhanginan who were then earning a living only from harvesting and selling fruits to Manila traders. The women and the elderly of the community are also given a chance to earn by being part of the production process.


Even the children of the community benefit from the program in terms of education. The DAHON program has helped renovate the community's daycare center and has introduced benefactors who regularly give financial support to the institution.

Aside from these efforts, the program has helped renovate the community chapel and has helped introduce livelihood skills like banana chip and banana ketchup production. The DAHON composting project is also underway which will maximize the use of the banana leaf trimmings.

For their efforts in initiating the DAHON Program, Binalot Fiesta Foods was awarded the 2007 UPS Centennial Award for Out of the Box Small Business Solutions. It also achieved the Anvil Merit Award in 2008.

Indeed, Binalot Fiesta Foods has touched more lives through the DAHON Program. The incredible "Leaf of Faith" is now reaping rewards not only for the company but for the community as well.

View more photos here


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The Philippines is rich in artistic treasures. All of these we have acquired not only because of our rich cultural heritage but also because of the artistic talents that are innate in our Filipino artists. Don Eugenio Lopez, Sr., was not only a successful and astute businessman, he was also an avid supporter of Philippine art and culture.

Fifty years ago, on 13 February 1960, the founder of the Lopez Group of Companies built the Lopez Museum in honor of his parents, Benito Lopez and Presentacion Holifena. The aim was to share his personal collection of rare Filipiniana materials, maps, and archeological artifacts to all Filipinos especially students and scholars.

To celebrate the day, the Lopez Museum celebrates 50th anniversary on February 18, 2010. Unfolding book launch and opening of Threads exhibit are the highlights of the celebration. "Threads: The Museum as Site for the Weaving of Tales" will showcase the works of contemporary artists Jean Marie Syjuco, Ann Wizer, Myra Beltran, Jef Carnay, Ann Pamintuan, Leo Abaya and Kiri Dalena.  Collectively, their works illustrate the museum as a place of that tells stories of historic and social significance.  The pieces will be exhibited at the North Court of the  Rockwell Power Plant Mall from February 19 to 25, 2010.



Aside from these highlights, the Lopez Museum in Ortigas  Center Pasig will also open the "After the Fact" exhibit to the public.    The exhibit will show Don Eugenio's personal collection as well as the works of artists Gaston Damag, Antipas Delotavo, Imelda Cajipe-Endaya and Keith Sicat. The exhibit will also launch the Lopez Museum's new website www.lopez-museum.org which will give visitors a chance to view their searchable and indexed archive of around 1,000 images.

For more information on the Lopez Museum and its 50th anniversary celebration, please visit the Lopez Museum and Library Facebook page.

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My cousin and I were chatting a few days ago about the possibility of her going abroad after availing an early retirement package. I'm happy that somehow, she has plans of spreading her wings and trying her luck abroad. She asked me if I want to join here when she applies for a job abroad but I declined. I choose to stay here.

As much as possible, I would like us to stay and work here in the Philippines. I am thankful that the Lord blessed us with everything we need to be able sustain our life here in the country. I know it's a big sacrifice for OFWs to leave their roots behind because there really is not much opportunity here. I think I'd also look for a job abroad when the time comes that I will need to help augment our family's income. I'd probably join my cousin in California and just sell Oakland real estate properties. But as long my husband and I are earning modestly here in the country, we are going to stay.

I hope that the time for us to leave and work abroad will not come. I am fervently praying that the next leader of our country can make things better for all of us. Not just for the poor, but for everyone.

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Metro Manila and the entire Philippines were caught off guard last September 26, 2009 when Typhoon Ondoy suddenly struck. It was recorded to be the Tropical Depression with the worst rainfall to hit Manila, leaving hundreds and thousands of people without shelter, food, and clothing.

Right after Ondoy & Pepeng, thousands of volunteers from all walks of life gathered together to aid and assist those in need. Women were first to respond. Evacuation centers, packing centers and soup kitchens quickly filled with women who were armed and ready to help in every which way they can. It was their love, care and kindness that inspired more people to come out and help too.

But despite this initial outpour of concern, 57,000 families are still living in evacuation centers scattered all throughout Luzon. More than 30,000 of the displaced are women. Christmas and New Year have come and gone, and life in the evacuation centers have worsened. Their health and well-being have suffered tremendously, having poor and limited access to water, shelter, health care and clothing.

Inspired by that first wave of women volunteers, Modess is taking up the challenge for continued care for our displaced sisters in need. 30,000 comfort kits – much needed packets of feminine care - will be distributed across the 220 evacuation centers still in operation.

Modess has set up a Facebook group where female volunteers can sign up for a comfort kit to be given in their name. Every sign up means one more comfort kit donated.

With only its first month in operation, the Modess Angels group page has already reached more than 30,000 Angels, and will continue to grow in the next days. The Facebook group has also become a hub for more information on the evacuation centers, a support system for women volunteers and an all-around community of of sisterhood, sharing, fun and love. After all, the need for female empowerment & volunteering never ends. The Modess Angels are women who make a difference, not only during these troubled times, but with her self, her family and her community as well.

It doesn’t take an army to rebuild a nation. It takes Angels.

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This has been a laughing matter between my husband and I over the week. We're celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary today, you see. But really, the proposed 10-year expiry on marriage contracts is not funny.

The proposed bill was put forward by women's party list group Isa-Ako Babaeng Astig Aasenso (1-ABAA). Several lawmakers have already expressed disapproval upon the proposal and among them are House Speaker Prospero Nograles and Rep. Ruffy Biazon.

I am also expressing my sincere disapproval on this proposal. I am concerned about how it will affect families and our society itself should this be passed. The sanctity of marriage is bypassed. I think that there are better ways on how 1-ABAA can help women in empowering themselves and this is not one of them.

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It's just five months and a couple of days away from the May 2010 elections here in the country. Have you already made up your mind on the candidate that you will support? Honestly, I've been fickle-minded lately especially now that there are more debates being televised. This is my first election-related post and I am not writing about my candidate yet. I will still need more time to think about who to root for this coming elections.

In the process of discernment, I discovered a site that helped me know the candidates more. This site is Politicalarena.com. Together with PPCRV, COMELEC, and Youth Vote Philippines, it aims to promote voter education through online social interaction. Politicalarena.com operates under the network of 88db.com, the Philippines’ first rich media service portal.


In this site, members can browse through each candidate's profile and scrutinize their platform of governance. They can also post questions regarding political issues and other concerns. They can also interact with other users in the political forum. In fact, I got too engaged in an infrastructure thread that I immediately wrote what I felt about the issue.


I think I'll be frequenting the site more as election day gets nearer. I already have a candidate in mind and I already pledged my support for him by clicking the I SUPPORT YOU BUTTON. Should I change my mind as the days go by, I can always click the WITHDRAW SUPPORT button. Voting for our next leader is a big responsibility so it is always helpful to have an open-mind and a listening ear to what others have to offer.

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I know I should have done this back in 2006 when I stopped teaching. I planned to do so immediately after we moved here in Cainta with the SSS branch just a 5-minute drive away. I suddenly realized the need to update my membership status and start paying my monthly dues when my father's disability claim was approved a month ago. Having an updated social security membership status does have its perks.

I am planning to update my membership status from Employed to Non-Working Spouse. I think that this type of voluntary membership suits me well since I am not really self-employed. There's no difference in the benefits and monthly contributions anyway. By being a Non-Working Spouse SSS member, all I need to do is fill up the NW-1 Form and submit it with a copy of my SSS identification card and our marriage certificate. The form has to be signed by my husband, too. I hope I can have enough time to do this next week.

When my father received his social security disability claim, I realized that the system does work for us. I guess we all need to put a little faith in our government agencies once in a while.

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Three days before Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) hit the country and devastated our beloved town of Cainta, my son spoke about protecting the environment in their school's Young Environmentalists program. I am glad that, for two successive years now, the school has been teaching environmental protection to the boys through this program. Let me share to you what he wrote and spoke about that day.

Protecting the Environment, Protecting Our Health
by: Ralph Alexander Flores, 3-Kindness

Protecting the environment does not only make our Earth healthy, it makes our bodies healthy as well.

As we know, everything we take in is provided by nature. We get our food from the various plants and animals that nature gives us. We get water from the reservoirs that are connected to the lakes and seas. We breathe precious oxygen from the air in our atmosphere. Everything we need, we get from the environment.

If our environment is unhealthy, everything we get from it becomes toxic and unhealthy, too. When farmers use pesticides and other harmful chemicals on plants, there may be a possibility that we will get sick from eating them. The abundance of processed foods has made our tummies weak.

When rivers and seas are polluted with garbage, the fishes tend to eat the garbage and we may end up eating them, too. Our drinking water also becomes polluted with all these garbage.

The air that we breathe becomes polluted with the smoke coming from factories and automobiles. This polluted air has made most of us asthmatic and less resistant to diseases.

Don't you notice how children living in city are more prone to sickness than children living in the provinces? Children living in healthier environments are luckier that they get to enjoy cleaner air and water and more organic food.

If you think that protecting the environment only means saving our Earth, think again. The truth is, by doing so, we are also saving ourselves.

Every word in this 1-minute speech is true, don't you think? It's unfortunate that, although young children are becoming aware of our current environmental situation, some adults don't give much thought about it.

And as if Mother Earth wanted so much to remind us how pressing the matter is, she sends in Typhoon Ketsana to the Philippines three days after and Typhoon Parma that almost didn't want to leave. Not to mention that a week before that, I received news from friends in Australia about a dust storm. (Hail rained down from the sky a week after, by the way.) Then, simultaneous to our typhoons, Indonesia was hit by a strong earthquake and Samoa with a tsunami. "Is the world coming to an end?" I was thinking about this while listening to my transistor radio and lying down on my bed in our candle-lit bedroom during the post typhoon blackout.

Do we really need to be reminded this way? Do you want to suffer as much as we did? While there's no more time to point fingers on who's to blame, I think there's still time to reverse climate change. It can be as simple as waste management and supporting eco-friendly materials to as bold as lobbying for strong climate change legislation. Bloggers like me, on the other hand, take action by participating in today's Blog Action Day.

Learn more about how you can get involved. Visit www.blogactionday.org today.

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Thank God, I was able to deliver groceries to my parents' home today! My mom has been calling about how hard it is for them to buy food inside the village. We were finally able to get in the village through the Taytay gate. I wasn't able to get out of the car though. We had to park near the clubhouse along Tulip St. because the water is still high along Chestnut Street.

Going inside the village through the Pasig gate is almost impossible. As of today, I have received reports that the flood water in Mercedes Avenue and Sandoval Avenue can reach up to his waist. The village offers free rides to its residents going out of the village to Pasig. My brother tells me that for a few days now, he rides a truck from Greenwoods to Rotonda, Pasig.

Here are some photos I took while we were inside Greenwoods:


Sandalwood Street


Tulip Street. This road leads to my parents' home, the one at the end of this street.
My sister and I were talking about my dad's SUV that was parked in her place in Vista Verde when the great flood happened. As it turned out, the SUV would have been submerged deeper in the flood if it was parked in Greenwoods. This is also one of our big problems after the flood. The SUV needs to be repaired and some of the truck accessories need to be replaced. Not to mention that we need to pay my youngest brother's tuition fee next week as it is already their final examinations for this semester. The flood really came in a bad timing but we're hanging on. I believe that all of this shall pass and the Lord will give us more blessings to replace what we have lost.

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Last Saturday, September 26, 2009, was just like any ordinary weekend for us except that it was raining very hard. The bed weather made it impossible for me to resist sleeping in. We were supposed to bring my feverish child to the doctor but we were late so we postponed our visit to the clinic to a later schedule. I did my usual online tasks while looking after my son. My brother posted this in his Facebook account:


We were still exchanging funny comments. We didn't know that the disaster was just starting. According to him, when he entered his comment made at 10:53 am, the flood waters came rushing in. He did not even have time to shut the computer properly. He just pulled the plugs and carried the CPU, monitor, and printer and placed it in the topmost shelf of his bedroom cabinet. That was also the same time when power went out and I was convinced that it was serious.

After an hour he calls me up via his wireless landline phone and informs me that the house is submerged in neck-high flood water. He said that him and my brother-in-law were on top of my dad's Toyota Hilux. Thank goodness that the garage was on higher ground. They would have probably went up to the roof if the car wasn't there. My sister was taking her IELTS exam in Ortigas that day and she wasn't around.

I found it unbelievable at first because there was no flooding inside our village. A few moments later, the househelp calls my attention while standing in our second floor veranda. There I saw the village behind ours submerged in flood water.


We tried to drive the car to the nearest supermarket to buy supplies but the flood outside the village gate was high too. My husband and houseboy ended up walking through the waist-deep flood just so we can get some food, candles, water, batteries, and my son's medicine. While they were away, I hauled food from our pantry to my son's room upstairs.


I was sleepless that unforgettable Saturday night. Aside from thinking about the situation of my brother and brother-in-law in Vista Verde, I was also worried about my sister who was stranded in SM Megamall, my parents who were in Greenwoods, San Andres, Cainta, and my nephew who was with my brother's in-laws in Doña Petra in Marikina City. I stayed up all night waiting for updates over the radio and for messages sent to my phone. My sister was the first one to send me an SMS that she made it to her in-laws' place in Cubao. My parents' place was submerged in waist-deep flood water but the house was not flooded. Up to now, we still do not have news about the whereabouts of my nephew but we received the good news that he and his grandmother were rescued from the roof their home. We just need to know where he is staying right now.

The following morning, I was thankful to see my brother and brother-in-law walking towards our place, each of them with a 5-gallon bottle of water. As it turned out, they swam the flooded Imelda Avenue using the water bottle as a life saver. They swam for two hours to reach us even though we were just one barangay away. They were so hungry from spending the night without food and water.


That Sunday afternoon, my husband and I walked through the flood to buy food in the public market. These are just some of the depressing scenes I saw along the way.








Now I know how Noah must have felt during the great flood. News reports said that 95% of Cainta was under water. I guess we are the remaining 5% of the town's population who stayed dry that night. I had mixed emotions thanking the Lord that He saved us and our belongings from the flood. However, I also felt sad for the people who were affected by it. My sister and brother, for instance, were not able to save their furniture and electric appliances. Their clothes are now all wet and muddy. At least, it is still a consolation to know that everyone is safe. Material possessions can always be replaced, anyway. But you can never bring back a lost family member.

The waters have subsided in most parts of our town but we haven't fully recovered yet. Food and drinking water is still scarce. In fact, we needed to go to Quezon City just to be able to buy more food and drinking water. My hopes are still high, though. We'll get by and things will be better one day at a time.

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