At the news that Puerto Princesa was submerged, not a few checked on me and my safety. At first, though, they were in disbelief that such misfortune could actually happen to a city that has tagged itself as The City in the Forest. But reality did bite. Our beloved city has suffered heavy downpours for several days. A number of barangays were transformed into a water world. More than 3,000 families evacuated. Prized properties vanished. Cherished family homes are suddenly gone. As everybody has factually claimed, this is the first time that it has happened to us. Some were even contentious as to talking about God’s wrath by way of this natural calamity. This is quite unfortunate and even antithetical since we also claim to be The City of the Living God.
My quick reply then to those who expressed concern was, “Thank God. We are okay.” We were okay, despite the heavy rainfall, because we are 92.8 ft. above sea level, which makes us naturally protected from flooding. In other words, we are thankful because of our mountains. We are okay because we have luscious forests that surround us. They serve as a strong wall to guard us against overflow. We are okay because around us are rivers that serve as natural drainage should nature shower us with a water capacity that could at times be unexpectedly voluminous… Sana all?
While I was assuring those who asked me of my safety amidst the so-called shear line phenomenon, slowly, though, I was already having second thoughts as to what extent we consider ourselves safe. Towards noontime on that Sunday, as the skies still were dark and observably burdened, I decided to cancel Masses in the afternoon since the skies were not showing any sign of halting the downpour. And when it was about evening, our kasambahay informed me, “Father, wala pong pang-ulam kasi wala pong nakalaot.” Then at nighttime, I thought and worried every now and then about the situation of my family, who happened to be city residents. It was now my turn to ask them from time to time, “Kumusta kayo diyan?”
Moreover, I was also keeping in touch with our teachers, as I had to monitor the situation on account of my role as a school administrator, given whether to suspend classes or not. Early on, though, I had told our teachers to focus first on safety more than anything else. And as we had it, we were not able to hold class for three days. Some of our teachers and several of our students became victims of this first-ever massive flooding in our city. One student of ours had everything gone. “Nakikitira na lang po kami ngayon, Father. Wala na rin po akong mga gamit sa school.”
Safe I was, yes. But to say that I was unaffected, not at all. It is quite wrong to think that just because one is far off, one is already free of becoming worried or even affected. As we say, we are in this together. And as one island, we are all bound together. I cannot even say when Napsan will be free from flooding. We are noting that Puerto Princesa then could not talk of bad weather, much less of a calamity. If we are not careful and caring yet, we will all be flooded altogether.
Very unfortunately, there was another flood that ensued before us—the flood of bickering, the inundation of senseless comments, the overflow of blame games, and the torrent of know-it-all pundits. Quite literally, social media is flooded by this kind of flood. Conspicuously, though, this flood has yet to subside. This could even be worse than the real flood, for it is not solving anything. For how in this world can this type of flood be siphoned? What sort of drainage can work out this internal surge? What ways of engineering can upgrade the discussion for the sake of the common good?
Stop the flood, by all means, and in no time at that. But the flood that comes from within should also be considered. Without minding this “flood,” our dear city will persistently suffer even without a shear line.
Well then, we need to go back to what was original and foundational—to what is beautiful. In other words, we should look at our city as indeed beautiful. We have to recover our very eyes that can gaze and be amazed by the beauty and charm of Puerto Princesa. Lest we forget, “If someone has not learned to stop and admire something beautiful, we should not be surprised if he or she treats everything as an object to be used and abused without 1 scruple.” (LS, 215). We all go back to what is beautiful. Beauty has the power to transform us… and to make us unaffected.
