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Monday, September 28, 2009

ONDOY RESCUE OPERATIONS-THE UNSUNG HEROES


 Dear insansapinas,


Up to now, many bloggers are still in their blame games on Ondoy disaster even mentioning some incidents which are just targeting their political opponents. It is true that the politicians became non-visible at the height of the unexpected
calamity and leaders who are supposed to lead did fail in their roles simply because there are political agenda that separate the loyalists and non-loyalists.

People were angry because of the slow rescue operation. They blamed  all excepting no one. But there were people who did their jobs nd their efforts were never chronicled in any media.

This article is from Victorina blog which is one of the blogs I read regularly. One of the writers, a lady lawyer wrote about her effort to save her son and in the process save other lives.
In her own eyes, she saw why the rescue operation was slowed down.


Read her story here

An excerpt is written below:
 


The officer -- whose name I failed to get -- immediately dispatched a boat and allowed me to get in to guide the team to Ronan's location. A young mother nearby begged me to be allowed to come on, even if she was just to be left behind. She had very young children left in the company of relatives in her house. I let her on.
We first went to the woman's house where we eventually had to take in four children -- one as young as eight months old -- who had not had food or water in nearly 24 hours. My daughter had packed water and clothes for her relatives; we apportioned some of them to the strangers in the boat. It was heartbreaking to bypass others who wanted to be taken in, but I worried that there would be no room in the boat for an invalid man. The Navy officers and I had to reassure the other victims that they would come back for them.
The streets were littered with debris like wood with nails, barbed wire, furniture, appliances, and dead animals. Janitor fish and snakes slithered past us. At some points the waters were shallow and I had to get off the boat to help the officers pull it. I used an oar to push detritus away from the officers who sometimes had to get in the water to steer the boat. We got to Ronan in about half an hour after an eventful ride. We loaded him and other relatives. But not everyone fit. The others opted to stay behind.





On the way back to the gate, others were also accommodated. Babies were priority, as many were already showing signs of dehydration and exposure. We could not ignore them. I helped as much as I could, but there were just too many victims. In the end, we had to promise that the boat would return.
As we approached the gate, we encountered the dreaded current. I joined the officers getting out of the boat, to help pull it through waist deep water. We were very near the gate, and I wanted to get Ronan home. Fortunately the waters were only waist deep there... Still, the current was frighteningly strong. Through the efforts of the gallant Navy officers, we eventually got to high ground,


I also have a new found respect for the Navy.

Thanks guys.
Pinaysaamerika 

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Good day, Ma'am! I am Niña Cabardo and I am currently working on an AVP project for a utility company that will feature the natural disaster and tragedies our kababayans just went through with the onslaught of Ondoy and Pepeng. Stumbling on your blog, I came across a very riveting image of soldiers helping with rescue operations (the blog was entitled, "Ondoy Rescue Operations-The Unsung Hero"). I would like to kindly request ma'am, for a higher-resolution copy of this photo, and most importantly, your permission in using those photos in the AVP. This will be a two-minute audio-visual presentation that will be shown to officers of charitable institutions (i.e. Caritas Manila, Boystown, etc.), and possibly a few members of the press, by second week of November.

I am certainly hoping for a positive feedback, and if you would have any questions or clarifications, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me through this email ninacabardo@gmail.com Please expect a follow-up email soon from me, Ma'am. Thank you very much for your consideration.

Have a blessed weekend!

cathy said...

nina,
hindi sa akin ang retratong yan. kinopya ko lang at nakalagay yong link ko sa aking blog na marahil kinopya rin sa diyaryo.