Life continues no matter what

YOUNG school children always find it difficult to lift sleepy heads in the morning to prepare for the day’s activity. Well, actually adults also often encounter that process of waking up to a new day, however, older people, especially mothers, are more motivated to rise up once awake because of responsibilities in life that fuels one’s lagging energy.

In whatever endeavor that we are involve in, we are most often ready to get up shake off sleep each morning to take on what we need to do. Recovering from a downfall could be similar to waking up from a nightmare or bad dream. It makes us force ourselves to stand and really open wide weary eyes to the reality of the living.

Forty days hence, after the storm ‘Pablo’, the task of recovering and rebuilding has barely begun. The snail-paced processes of recovery could be attributed to a host of reasons, one of which is environmental in nature, as the rainy season continues to hamper the clearing up of debris and even in making people move back to reality.

However, with the right resources at hand, and perhaps, a little more urgings from the government authorities, it would have been easier for people to continue life even under the difficult circumstances posed by nature. If communities are allowed to take on the responsibility of taking back their lives and given the support that should have been facilitated by government, those affected could have easily continue living, albeit there may be some snags and stumbling blocks along the way.

January 14 marks the 40th day commemoration of the ‘Pablo’s’ wrath wrought on some parts of Mindanao. The survivors among the Indigenous Peoples in Barangay Andap and New Bataan will be having an activity together with other lumads, friends of the IPs, and many other people who will be visiting the devastated community to, perhaps, appease the spirits in Barangay Andap particularly.

Said activity will be led by the Municipal Tribal Council (MTC) of New Bataan together with SILDAP-Southeastern Mindanao Inc. (SILDAP-SEM), Kaabya and Trees Inc. at Andap, New Bataan, Compostela Valley. This activity dubbed as “PABLO: After 40 Days: Reconciliation with Nature, Prayer for the Victims and Thanksgiving of the Survivors” will also commemorate the victims and comfort the relatives. The organizers are inviting advocates to join and witness the activity and “share the pains and hopes of the victims and their relatives” as they continue to reel in the struggle to recover and continue life.

It is our fervent hope that we have so far, learn something from this sad lesson that nature has stressed for us to see. For those of us who have been vigilant enough with the goings-on in our wrecked island, the “wake-up” call has been there, but only very few heeded it.

This may be the time for our leaders to show their sincerity hopefully.

(Erratum: My apologies for having inadvertently put Mayor Dan Lim as the mayor of Balilihan. He is actually the honorable Mayor of Tagbilaran who personally came to deliver the assistance of his constituents to the beleaguered people of the places ravaged by “Pablo.”)