Baha sa Pinas

Grabe ang naging baha sa Pinas the past days. I had a brief video call with my niece last Sunday (August 11) there and this is what she showed me.

Yan yung ancestral house namin (mother side) in Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan. Lubog talaga. Lahat ng kamag-anak namin doon talagang apektado.

Puro baha ang nakita ko sa FB newsfeed ko. Nakakaaliw lang tingnan na parang nakakainggit din. Sa totoo lang, ang saya-saya kasi ng pakiramdam kapag baha. Naalala ko ang kabataan ko, walang pasok at feeling holiday talaga.

Pero syempre I truly feel bad for the people there. Nakakaawa na talaga ang mga Pinoy na bugbog na bugbog na sa dami ng kalamidad na dumarating sa bansa every year. Kahit na sabihing sanay na sila sa baha, haler ang hirap-hirap pa ring maglinis pagkatapos. Sana nga kung once a year lang, pero hindi eh. Several times in a year. Lalo na sa Lolomboy (where I grew up) na maghigh tide lang eh nagkakatubig all around.

I am thankful though kasi mataas at hindi binabaha ang bahay namin sa Marilao. At least hindi ko na iniisip ang kalagayan ng nanay ko. Once lang namin na-experience ang bahain talaga, noong Ondoy in September 2009.

Hay, it is during times like these na naiisip ko na sana makuha ko lahat ng kamag-anak ko sa Pinas at madala ko dito sa Canada. Actually hindi nga lang kamag-anak eh, pati mga kaibigan at kakilala, at buong sambayanan Pilipino na nga kung maaari. Ang laki-laki ng Canada, kasyang-kasya pa ang 100 milyung Pinoy.

Last night, my husband informed me that there will be a water service interruption here in our apartment today (from 10am to 5pm daw) kasi may gagawin. Grabe ang shock ko, instant panic agad! Then later on I realized na ang OA ko. Ang mga kababaryo ko nga sa Lolomboy ilang araw (o buwan o taon?) nang namomroblema sa kawalan ng tubig tapos ako eto nagi-inarte sa sandaling oras na mawawalan kami (na with notice pa kaya pwedeng paghandaan). Tsk, first world problems talaga noh?

Some rainy day sentiments

It's a cold and rainy Thursday. I am loving the weather. Parang nakikisama ang panahon, nakikisabay sa maulang lagay ng Pilipinas sa ngayon.

But unlike in the Philippines, there will be no dreadful typhoons here. No destructive winds. No deep floods. Just mere rain showers.

According to my husband, there is hardly any natural calamity here in Edmonton. An earthquake is in fact very unlikely to happen. Whoaah, so ganito pala sa ibang panig ng mundo. While we Filipinos are getting so used to regular calamities and natural disasters (Philippines daw is the 3rd most disaster-prone countries in the world, next to Tonga and Vanuatu), other countries and people are enjoying hassle-free lives. Ni hindi uso ang brownout dito.

Life is really not fair noh?

I am grateful that at 34, I was given the chance to move into a developed country where life is much better and easier. But I am not selfish.  Inasmuch as I am having a good time here, I couldn't help but feel the hardships that my fellow Filipinos are experiencing in our home country right now. I get heart-broken whenever I watch the news, seeing homeless families and hungry children is just too much painful to bear. If only there's something I can do.

Let's just all pray for our beloved Philippines.

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NOTE: Due to strong winds of Typhoon Glenda last July 16 (Philippine time), the huge gate of our garage hit the windshield of one of our buses. My brother also incurred a minor knee injury because he was trying to control the said gate. But other than that, we are thankful that all our family, relatives and friends (and our other properties) are safe. 

Thank you, Canada!

I've only been a permanent resident of Canada for ten days and I am already this grateful.

Thank you very much Canada for helping our home country! We Filipinos shall never forget your generosity and kind-heartedness during these times that we need help the most.

To date, Canada is helping the Philippines by:

• donating Cad$5 Million (or Php205.9 Million) for emergency relief activities
• sending its Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) that will aid in the relief efforts
• pledging to match the donations made to registered Canadian charities responding to this crisis  (like UNICEF Canada)
• promising to prioritize applications from Filipinos who are significantly affected by Typhoon Yolanda

Again, we are thankful.

And I am proud to be living in Canada.

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NOTE: Ford's officemate's husband is one of those who were deployed in the Philippines to help the typhoon victims. I am sad because according to her, they won't be celebrating Christmas together because the troop will stay longer in the Philippines. Such a huge sacrifice, I know. And to think those Canadian soldiers will be serving other country's people and not their own. Mabuhay kayo! At maraming maraming salamat!

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POSTSCRIPT: On November 18, 2013, the Prime Minister of Canada announced an additional $15 Million in relief assistance for Typhoon Yolanda victims! We are overwhelmed with this kind of assistance we're getting from Canada! For the nth time, thank you very much!

A little help from afar

I've been here in Edmonton for exactly a week now and I still haven't blogged. I originally planned on chronicling my day-to-day activities and taking lots of pictures but the sad news about my home country, the Philippines, hindered me to do so.

I do not have the heart to broadcast a 'wonderful' new life here in Canada knowing that many of my countrymen have lost their homes due to Typhoon Yolanda and are now starving to death. That destructive typhoon attacked the Philippines just a few days after I left.

I am so disheartened.

Kawawa naman ang Pilipinas. Bugbog na bugbog na.

We live in Luzon and our home was fortunately spared by Yolanda's wrath. But still, I am saddened heavily by this tragedy. Ganito pala kapag malayo ka na sa bansa mo, mas minamahal mo ito. Corny pero totoo.

Just like most of Pinoys all over the world, Ford and I wanted to help. Had I been home, I could have sorted all our clothes, bought canned goods and water, and/or volunteered. But since we are not, all we can do is donate a little cash through a good foundation.

So many organizations have committed in helping the victims of Typhoon Yolanda. Our first impulse was to donate to the Philippine Red Cross but as we search and search, we came across the website of UNICEF Canada.

We decided to coarse our donation through them because of this:

To add, Ford can even claim a tax credit for it. Not bad at all.

We couldn't afford to shell out a huge amount at this point but we are hoping that what we've given can at least feed several families for a day.

We Filipinos only need one thing during this trying time: TRUST. Trust that no likes of Napoleses can steal from funds that are supposed to aid the victims, trust that those who need help would receive it the soonest possible time, and trust that everything will soon be okay.

Bangon, Pilipinas!