Three classmates back in law school, at least those in my section, are victims of the heavy flood when Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsane) ravaged Metro Manila and its surrounding areas. Their cars got soaked by the flood, rendered unusable. It’s probably alright, I thought, considering that they’re safe and many were more badly hit. Besides, their cars are insured.
Then I realized that damage caused by “acts of god”, including natural calamities such as flood, are not covered by the usual general coverage insurance. The coverage for these contingencies require the payment of additional insurance premium. Who would have thought that flood water would cause damage to cars parked in the garage? But these are petty issues if we look at the bigger picture.
Destruction left by Typhoon Ondoy
Everyone is helping the victims of the Ondoy flood, but the call is for us to give more. It may not be apparent to us who are tucked safely in the comfort of our homes and offices, far from the affected areas. If you go there, however, you’ll come out convinced that so much more must be done to help.
There are many ways to help. We could give to the institutions that are performing relief and rescue operations, like the Philippine National Red Cross, GMA Kapuso Foundation, and ABS-CBN Foundation. Many organizations and schools, including the Rotary, Ateneo and UP have relief operations (the repacking operations at UP College of Law is still ongoing, in case anyone is interested to drop off relief goods). Even Google had created a landing page for relief operations (you could also use the comment section to below list other entities, and their respective locations, undertaking relief work, so those in the vicinity could drop off goods).
What's left of a House after Typhoon Ondoy
On a smaller scale, let’s help those who we know. Everyone here in Metro Manila, even those from outside, probably knows someone affected by the Ondoy flood. For instance, a staff in our office who lives in San Mateo, Rizal, got badly hit. We went to her home, or whatever is left of it, to bring food, water, clothes and other necessities. We’ve brought along extra supplies that would hopefully be enough to help the neighbors. Everyone could do the same.
Scrounging from the debris left by Typhoon Ondoy
You’ll find people begging along the road. We’ve seen that the supplies handed to those in evacuation centers, while most welcome, would last only for the day. Old people are lining up to receive the relief package. There are still so many not reached by the relief efforts. Local governments, including Pateros, are publicly asking for assistance because their local emergency fund was enough only until yesterday. There’s just not enough.
So your help is badly needed. Now.
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by detoxdiet
03 Oct 2009 at 13:12
it is very unfortunate for our Filipino brothers to be hit by typhoon Ondoy. i have seen the massive flooding and the flood victims on TV and it is really horrible.