THE year 2020 is a year to remember but much better to forget due to the crisis and disasters it brought to mankind. In fact, the corona virus disease 2019 still prevails and still claiming lives. This time of the year in the country are series of typhoons devastating several provinces.
There are many challenges besetting our country. This may be due to our location on earth beside the vast Pacific Ocean. Being a tropical country, we are often visited by weather disturbances with some have devastating effects.
With decades of experiences of catastrophes, we Filipinos have mastered the meaning of resilience. We became used to unusual occurrences and phenomena that other countries recognize Filipino resiliency and our fighting spirit.
In our case as the favorite spot of typhoons amid the existence of a pandemic, resiliency is not enough to survive. We also need the readiness and the capability to fight the effects. We should not rely on mere being resilient but we should know how prepare as well.
Typhoons "Quinta", "Rolly", "Siony", "Tonyo" and "Ulysses" came as series pounding several provinces including Metro Manila with heavy rains and strong winds. The last quarter of the year, while during pandemic, was full of trials as these occurrences battered various areas in the country.
While those being hit by typhoons are still reeling from the aftermath, another typhoon came one after another thus aggravating the effects, killing people and destroying thousands of houses, crops and livestock. The northern parts of the country such as Cagayan and Isabela, after being battered by typhoons, came the inundations after filled-up dams discharged huge volume of water.
Pampanga too was not spared from the typhoons as several towns were submerged in knee-deep to waist-deep floodwaters. To date, there are several barangays in the province that are under water, affecting the economy in some localities.
Despite the problems that disasters bring, we are not losing hope and that is our resilient spirit fighting for life. We always move on and we always stand up after every fall. We continue living after all these.
One of the signs of our resiliency is the Christmas lanterns adorning some homes, government and private offices. As the yuletide nears, we see these symbols of hope like the star that guided the three kings to the place the Jesus was born.
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