Bagyong Ondoy: Nature’s Way of Doing the Accounting

September 30th, 2009 → 11:31 am @ elmot

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Bagyong Ondoy: Nature’s Way of Doing the Accounting




They say that nature has its own laws that no one could ever usurp though many has drastically ignored and even twisted as a fraud for so many years now.

In the last few days, we have seen very sad and depressing images and stories of victims of calamities brought by Bagyong Ondoy; and many more stories untold from those people whose lips were silenced by their untimely passing in a tragic display of nature’s fury.

The tragedy has led me to a sense of reflection and silence and listening and murmuring, and praying, with tears running on the valley of my face, with how in the world a harrowing event so unimaginable could happen right the heart of the nation.

Why did it happen?  Who is to blame?

People were all wet, hungry and cold on rooftops as they saw their livelihood and family members were swept away by the deluge of raging waters and mud.  Hours last and darkness fell swiftly yet many were still asking for help to be rescued, as the government was obviously seen as totally incapable, incompetent and not ready to respond to such dire situations.  The private sector took the effort and immediately sounded the clarion call for unity, generosity and service; and unity, generosity, and service came…overflowing.

I beg to disagree that no one should be blamed.  Pardon me but there is a need to point our fingers especially when we saw that lives were ended as fast as a snap of a finger.  Forgive me but accountability and responsibility for such a big calamity that has torn down the foundations of families, homes, cities, provinces, a nation and individual dreams are needed to prevent for such a disaster from happening once again in the future.

No it is not the heavy rainfall.  No it was not all because of Ondoy.

It is all because of us.

This is what we paid for the dinner at Le Cirque.  This is what we as a nation paid for the corruption of government officials on so many government projects.  This is what families and victims paid for the bribery right at the doors of the Malacañang Palace.  This is what we paid for all the capricious spending of the government to non-sense programs that only benefited their own pockets.  This is what we paid for being silent in the midst of evil, cheating and wrongdoings.  This is what we paid for not having clear national policies, programs and political will against illegal logging, pollution, alternative sources of energy, reclamation of coastal areas, waste segregation, rehabilitation of rivers and estuaries, quarrying and mining, irresponsible industrialization and many more crimes against nature.

This is what we all paid for not taking care of our environment, for throwing all our garbage on wrong places for expediency, for polluting the air, rivers and soil, for not teaching our children how to be responsible stewards, for being lukewarm.

This is what I paid for not doing my best of practicing responsible stewardship; for being too lazy of thinking only of today and not of the future generations; for being laid back and not maximizing my talents and influence in order for nature to be cared for more; for not doing more, for being complacent and negligent.

This is what we all paid for:  loss of lives, livelihood, homes and dreams and maybe a better future that we will all be held accountable by the future generations; and God forbid, curse us for stealing away from them a beautiful, peaceful and healthy world to live in.

The elements of nature, air, water, soil and all living things have their own lives; they all breathe and they all live not actually all for themselves but for all of us.  And whenever we kill and destroy and disrespect nature, it has its own way of doing the accounting.

Acquiring more rubber boats, more relief goods, amphibious vehicles, having a savvy disaster coordination and disaster management programs, more budget for the upgrading of the equipment of the weather bureau and more volunteers, even if Darna and all our superheroes come to life; they will not solve the calamities to come.  They will not stop nature’s natural way of doing the accounting.  When lives are lost, lives will be claimed in return.

God for sure will forgive us for our irresponsibility, savagery and unmoderated greed; but nature has its own law:  what we reap is what we sow.

At the end of the day, I could only pound my breast, renew myself and pray, Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Image by English CCTV

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