FOR once or twice in our lives, we must have cast a stone on a body or pool of water just to satisfy our curiosity as to how a solid object would react to a liquid surface and see how it can create ripples. We must have also observed that the sound varies from a brief “plok” to something like “phlomb” depending on the size of the stone and how one throws it. As a child who grew up near a creek in the city and close to a river in the barrio, I learned that spinning a disc shaped stone into a body of water from a low angle can actually bounce the object not only once but many times depending on how it is cast. It may take several practices before one can create many ripples out of one stone in the water and as it finally settles into the bottom, the water once again flows normally until another stone is cast.
In our high school physics lessons, we learned about Newton's Third Law of Motion that “To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction” which also apply to human dealings and interactions. In social media alone, a single post by an individual can end up with many varying interpretations that can result to multiple reactions among netizens affected. Nowadays, it is common to see, hear and read about netizens badmouthing each other calling unacceptable tirades like the subjects known online as the LRT girl, the 5minute girl and now the ID man as tagged by netizens.
In the case of the Itogon, Benguet Mines and Naga City, Cebu quarry incidents, I was reminded of the biblical passage "I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will start shouting" which I interpret to be something that we have neglected and abused that finally takes its toll upon us especially those at the mine sites.
Can you imagine life without mining? That’s a question asked many times by those in the mining industry in their advocacy to which they display images of a caveman with an ax and spear with a sharp stone. Of course life has evolved and we have accepted machinery and modernity in our daily living but we have also reached a point where mining is already endangering our natural resources, floras and faunas, our habitat and perhaps our lives and our future, can we still say that mining and extraction of mineral resources from the bowels of the earth must keep on going on?
The recent landslides that happened in Itogon, Benguet as a result of the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong claimed many lives just like the 2009 landslide in Little Kibungan where many perished because of Typhoon Pepeng that happened almost a decade ago.
Living in the uplands with all the possible hazards expected from it is a way of life to many of us in the Cordillera. Despite having mines, forests, rivers, habitations, high rise buildings and bridges, it is not enough that we have engineers, architects, geologists, doctors, firemen, policemen, rescue paramedics and backhoe operators to cope up and serve as safety nets to the extent of developments that we introduce to our environs. It is also not enough that we have weather forecasts and bulletins, rescue volunteers, national line agencies, local officials and the like to assure us of a safe community because all of us are what makes a village or compose a community as one netizen would put it.
So days and weeks came to pass after the last major disaster in the Cordillera and we observed the outpouring support by fellow Filipinos here and abroad. Maricar A. Docyogen in her facebook page recounts “Humanity Restored. Ompong left dozens dead, children orphaned, families separated, properties lost. But Ompong still lost it because from his destruction rose armies of people who wouldn't let misery go on. In big and small ways, people have responded. True leaders emerged to organize. Volunteers came with their hands ready to serve, even with their wallets, prayers coins relief goods poured in. To the hawak kamay norte group, to all who got involved in this millennial group that started only to help Baguio affected victims, hats off to the inspiration you started. My heart swells with pride with all your accomplishment this past 2 weeks. God bless you all.” Merriam Serrano del Rosario responded “Sometimes, the world needs the likes of #Ompong to wake people up, figure things out, realize mistakes, and find out who they really are and what they truly need.”
Whether we like it or not, natural occurrences such as typhoons, earthquakes, fire and even human catastrophes will always happen and we just do not know when and I guess that has become our way of life as human beings. As the good book says, there's a time for every season, a time to plant and a time to harvest, a time to laugh and a time to cry, a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones together. Lord, give us the strength so that we can face all these.