Life is fragile, handle with prayer....
The slogan is posted above the door of a classroom of Rizal High School in flood-stricken Pinagbuhatan, Pasig. The school became a refuge from rising flood waters for some 160 families at the height of Typhoon Ondoy. While occasional flooding does occur in this low-lying area of Pasig, never in Pinagbuhatan's history had water risen so high and so quickly.
Two weeks after Ondoy dumped heavy rains in Pinagbuhatan, WHO's Public Information Office's Communication Team travelled by boat to talk to flood-stricken residents.
Since September 26, the whole stretch of Pinagbuhatan, several kilometres wide, had been under waist-deep waters—often chest-deep when there is a high tide. It's almost like Venice, but with the stench of foul water. Pinagbuhatan's flood waters are said to have now settled to the same level of the waters of nearby Laguna de Bay, so it could take three months before the area is dry again.
To residents of Pinagbuhatan, life goes on—and must go on. "Kinakaya ang hirap," (Bear the pain of hardship) were the words of 46-year-old vegetable vendor Erwin Ocampo. From 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Ocampo rents his neighbour's improvised boat for 80 pesos, braving the chilly floodwaters as a night-shift boatman. "I need this work to feed my family," he said in Tagalog. "But the money is not enough, so I rely on my aunt and on relief, too."
Tricycle peddlers have shifted to being boatmen, converting whatever floats into makeshift, man-pulled "gondolas", using everything from bathtubs to airbeds to wooden boards atop of plastic jugs. Even plastic basins have ingeniously become a mode of transportation for babies and goods.
At the Pinagbuhatan market place, it was business as usual, although residents say fish and vegetables have now become scarce. Standing alongside half-submerged kiosks, traders continue to sell their wares, from rice, candies and biscuits to generator-driven recharging services for cellphones for 15 pesos for a charge.
Our team arrived at the six-storey Rizal High School with the help of two men who pulled our boat in waist-deep, filthy waters for an hour. Like our boatman, Ymor Jovillano, many suffer from skin diseases from overexposure to the water. "My thighs hurt," Jovillano said, perhaps from wading in cold water for hours on end. His skin rashes have not improved either. "Even if I apply petroleum jelly, it does not heal because I have to wade again in the floods," he said. "I have my wife and two children to support."
Only 12 of the 160 families (as of 9 October) still remained at the school, waiting to be transferred to the Philippine Sports Arena in Pasig (formerly Ultra). They had started waiting for the truck the night before, hoping they had not been forgotten and that the truck scheduled to pick them up was just still engaged in relief efforts.
On the school's notice board was a poster for Christian Larson's book The Optimist's Creed, written almost 100 years ago but still appropriate for the people of the Philippines in 2009. The poster's words seemed to be aimed at the flood victims of Pinagbuhatan: To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
Annalyn Macasinag, mother, teacher and flood victim, comes to Pinagbuhatan High School every day from Pateros, where she now stays temporarily, to assist in relief efforts at the evacuation centre. "It isn't easy when there are 160 families housed in the centre with only three working toilets," Macasinag said. "It's difficult to keep the toilets clean because we use flood water to flush."
A raised walkway is being built so people can move about more freely until the waters subside in Pinagbuhatan. Ever the optimist, Ocampo said, "Perhaps, I may soon be able to go back to selling vegetables. Luckily, I haven't gotten sick wading in flood waters other than developing a cold."
Despite Ondoy's wrath, the flood victims of Pinagbuhatan possess in them the Filipino's legendary resilience. There were smiles and waves everywhere–from people wading in water, from those in other boats and from those living in flooded houses who watched the Public Information Office team's boat pass by. Greetings of "Hi, Joe" and "What's up, man?" rang out to Australian team member John Larkin.
Residents of Pinagbuhatan say they look forward to the flood waters eventually subsiding so life can get back to normal. But things will not be normal for the parents who lost their toddler to Ondoy. No words were spoken as the father waded out of the flood waters, carrying his son wrapped in a blanket. The pain of loss and anguish was written on his face. Pinagbuhatan is no playground for children these days. This was the second one to drown that morning.
—By Marilu Lingad