Thursday, August 28, 2008 Editorial: Volunteerism is alive
ONCE again, Dabawenyos have shown the spirit of volunteerism as both civilians and government authorities alike scoured the beaches and waters of Davao Gulf as soon as word about the missing Philippine Air Force (PAF) C-130 plane was passed on from cell phone to cell phone.
From artisanal fishermen who paddled around, picking up bits and pieces floating on the sea and sacrificing their livelihood for one day, to seaside residents who walked the length of the beaches and sort through the stuff brought in by the surf, to professionals and businessmen who shelved their work to search for whatever can be retrieved of the missing plane.
While hope has dimmed on finding a survivor, since the bits and pieces of plane debris, and chunks of human body indicate that the missing plane is indeed somewhere in the depths of Davao Gulf and the casualties so far recovered are no longer whole, the family and colleagues of the those in that plane can take heart on the unity of the Dabawenyos (both mainland Davao residents and those of the neighboring Island Garden City of Samal) to search, to hope, and to share their time and resources.
Even the Philippine Navy itself is not so hopeful, but there is still that unflappable wish to find a survivor and thus operations continue onto the third day. While the Philippine Coast Guard, soon after the first pieces were recovered from the sea launched a combined search and rescue and recovery and retrieval operations so that work could kick off right away, unperturbed by formalities of changing search levels.
In all these, there is the apparent show of unity to hunker down to work, right away, and in their own way alleviate the sufferings of all those waiting for their missing loved ones.
Once again, the people have shown a spirit of volunteerism that is a tacit display of caring for all those who had the chance to visit Davao City. A spirit of volunteerism that needs only a single distress call to gather people, with ready hands and resources to share. We can only thus take off our hats to all those who have helped, may we keep that spirit of volunteerism inside us, always.
