The recent heavy non-stop rains have exposed how unprepared this country is for natural disasters. Well, for Central Luzon at least, but I think that’s already a reflection of our readiness for such cases. We’re talking about just one region of the Philippines; what more on a national level?
We were really planning to go home to Nueva Ecija for the long weekend. However, my parents warned us not to proceed anymore because the main roads we would pass (particularly San Simon, Pampanga) were already flooded. I thought it was just ankle-deep flooding, but my parents told me the floodwaters were waist-deep. It was a good call that I listened to my parents, because the subsequent scenes on North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and other major highways in the next few hours were horrific. The traffic on the whole NLEX and other surrounding thoroughfares was in gridlock.
Our yaya, who still pushed through to go home to the province for the long weekend, wasn’t able to go back to work immediately because there were no trips to Metro Manila. According to the bus company, they cancelled the trips because NLEX was closed. Imagine that: a major highway closed off because of heavy flooding for many hours. Think about the economic losses because of that.
But beyond that, I’m sure the frustration felt by many Filipinos during that time was beyond belief. They were angry, sad, nervous, frustrated, hungry, uncomfortable because of the lack of toilets and facilities, and were probably just questioning what on Earth was happening to the Philippines, and the taxes that we were paying. Many were just wishing for the chaos to be over, like a bad dream haunting them long before they’ve awakened.
How ironic; the country is in the midst of a flood control corruption issue, and yet here comes Mother Nature proving that those in power have done us wrong. Also, NLEX. They didn’t even have any contingency plan to aid those who are stuck in traffic for long hours. They should be made liable for that pandemonium at the expressway last week.
Hay, indeed, mas nakakatakot pa talaga ang mga buhay kesa sa multo.
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