TWENTY-ONE: POSTCRIPT TO HAIYAN ( a life behind a number)

Tacloban Airport porters (number 21 not in sight)

Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport, City of Tacloban, the 9th of April 2014, exactly five months after Haiyan brought the Visayas and the Philippines unto its knees, I stepped out of an Air Asia flight, my first after that fateful morning of November 8, 2013.

Slowly but clearly, Tacloban is en route to recovery and re-development even if some political animals are fighting to the nines in trying to claim 'ownership' of the on-going rehabilitation efforts that is still not enough for the typhoon victims and international community that played a critical role in easing out the burden and unimaginable misery of the lives severely affected and impacted by Haiyan's wrath.

I cannot contain my emotions. It was hard seeing for the first time the city that has been a huge part of my life. I spent my college years  in Tacloban and lived in nearby Paterno Kings, one of the areas severely hit by Haiyan. I started my career in broadcast at the now 'dead-air' DYDW Radyo-Diwa. Haiyan brought the station to deafening silence, destroying everything that got in the way. We pioneered producing the first ever waray-waray radio dramas that many Waraynons came to love. I spent the good one third of my life in Tacloban. The city where I started making my dreams happen while enjoying the line of barbecue stalls along the downtown strip and frequenting Diorico's bakery every time I have extra money to spare on their breads. It was a part of my life well-spent and well-remembered until now.

The rain was pouring hard, the skies turned black and cried endlessly as if remembering the more than six thousand lives Haiyan claimed in a single blow of super storm and raging waters. An airport crew handed me an umbrella and slowly, I made my way to the ravaged airport. My heart was beating fast that I can hear it making an endless sound of faint booms and thuds.

I immediately saw the line of men in white and blue shirts with numbers on their left chest, the porters, the friends of weary and luggage-heavy travelers. My eyes wandered, looking for a familiar sight, a wave, a face, a smile, a number...twenty-one.

But there was none. There he was not. The burly man with the gentle lines of his years etched on his face. He with the shy smile and dependable helping hand. There wasn't he who always welcome me with the usual 'ilan po ang baggage nyo ma'am?'. There he was not to carry my load until I am safely settled in a vehicle that would bring me to my next destination. 

Sadness swept over me as maddening thoughts entered my mind. Could it be that the life behind number twenty-one was among Haiyan's victims? I said a prayer of gratitude and hope. Gratitude for knowing him and for the time he spent securing my luggage everytime I set foot at the airport. A prayer of hope, wishing to heavens  that I was wrong.

The other porters knew of the bond that I and Manong 21 had. It took another porter to calm my nerves down, but then, the news. 'Ma'am wala na po si 21'. Panicked ran through my blood again. My heart sanked and I nearly choke in tears. 

'Kasama ba sya sa na-yolanda?' I asked.

'Hindi po ma'am'.  

He survived. 

Twenty-one found a better job.  

The view from the plane

The sadness that was Haiyan

 Waiting & hoping

 Displaced lives everywhere.

 Unspoken sadness. Tormented sorrow

 Ray of Hope. Camella roofings restored. Thanks to the generosity of Vista Land's boss and billionaire Manny Villar who donated more than P20M to bring back the 'normalcy' in his ravaged housing communities

With or without politics, Tacloban will rise again

'We fight, get beaten, 

but we rise and fight again'

-Nathanael Greene

HEART to HEART

Blessed are those who have loved and are loved back for theirs is today. The passion, feelings and whatever they feel good to one another would be profounded with unspoken words, bunches of flowers, endless traffic of sweet text messages and of course, boxes of chocolates for the uber cheesy and  believers of love.

Blessed are they who have  hands to hold, shoulder to lean on, lips to kiss, someone to cuddle with and share a glass of wine after a romantic dinner or date. They are what this day is all about.

But more blessed are those who have loved and lost for whatever the reason was and for whatever it was worth. Blessed more are those who broke their hearts and got rained on with so much pain and hurting that came with love. 

Today more than ever, is theirs to celebrate and remember the past with a lighter heart and saying out loud 'I survived and ready to take a chance on love again'.

For today is not solely for those in love as of this moment but for those who have loved, lost and ready to fall in love and get hurt all over again.

Because if you did not get hurt in the past, you have not loved. And if you don't want to get hurt in this lifetime, then, never ever love at all.

'In the end, we only regret the chances we did not take, relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited to long make'

-unknown

PUSO-PUSUAN

"Di ba ga't maraming puso sa sagingan

May pusong saba, may pusong latundan

May pusong  tapat, may puso-pusuan

May pusong wagas, may pusong salawahan.

Ngunit ang puso ng magulang,

Ang syang tunay na nagmamahal"

I grew up listening to this song. Every February, the classroom is filled with this beautiful, melancholic melody. Our way of honoring the month of love and remembering our dearest ones with a song and doodles of hearts on paper. 

Now, I'm singing it again like a love song.

'We loved with a love that was more than love'

-Edgar Allan Poe

Photo Credits: 

www.loveqoutepicture.com

www.vectorss.com

www.santabanta.com

www.moderatefashion.com

RAINISISYM

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‘ikaw ay may pakpak, lumipad ka. ikaw ay may paa, tumakbo ka. ikaw ay may isip, mamili ka. ikaw ay buhay pa, umasa ka. ikaw ay may puso, magmahal ka. kung ika'y nasaktan na, magpatawad ka. kung pagngiti ay kaya pa, magpasalamat ka. ngunit kung damdamin ay nagdurugo na, mag-isip ka’ - (copyright) april rain

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'life is not at all about getting where you want to be. it is taking in with wonder every zig and zag, every hill and valley, every twist and turn, every bend and curve and every rainy and sunshiny day. most of all, it is smiling back to a stranger that you meet along the way. seize each moment. enjoy the journey -' (copyright) april rain

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‘when others overestimate themselves to underestimate you as if there's no tomorrow, cry if you will. be hurt if you must. but after all the drama, you should embrace your truth and realize that it is at this certain lows in your life that you can redefine yourself, turn everything around and easily, without sweat, prove them wrong’ - (copyright) april rain

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'if you are itching to scratch somebody's character to prove you're better, be very sure that you know what you're doing. chances are, you'll find what you're looking for...and more. you might just end up wobbling in regrets and wished you never tried doing what you did' - (copyright) april rain

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'don't let your world stop turning if you find out that something inside you could start to fail. never halt waking to each sunrise while you still can. go on with the usual. go to work, ride a bus, get rained on, feel the pain, sing, laugh, eat your greens, sweat it out. there's more to life than life itself. it's just a phase. that too, shall pass...whether in this lifetime or beyond'- (copyright) april rain

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‘joy, pain, longing, bouncing back. it is life's never-ending cycle. it runs in circles. sometimes fleeting, but oftentimes staying in your core over time. every emotion is essential. joy brings you smile even for no reason at all. pain makes you stronger after all the tears have fallen. longing sets you hoping for another chance. and bouncing back...that's when you know that you're ready to laugh, get hurt, dream and live again’ - (copyright) april rain

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‘you don't need the approval of some bigshot and random people in your life for as long as you know yourself and your worth. you were born alone, you'd die alone. the friendships and broken bonds that you make along the way are just incidental and temporary. at the end of the day, no one would ever dare say, i'd be with you in your grave' - (copyright) april rain

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byahera's note:

i am april rain, so the RAINISISYM. although the pictures used are from different image sites. thank you for lending me all of the above. 


 

MADIBA (journey to freedom)

1918 - 2013 

The crowd gathered in multitude, dancing, chanting in circles and not minding the long hours they’ve spent rejoicing outside a modest home in Johannesburg. They did not mourn and cry for their beloved leader. They were celebrating the life and legacy of Nobel Prize winner Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa.

Tributes, kind words of remembrances and fond memories of long-spent friendships and chance meetings and encounters with the democratic icon this lifetime had ever seen, poured in from around the world. Once again, world leaders, celebrities and ordinary people sang in unison to praise and remember Mandela’s legacy as an incomparable world leader, father of his nation, and universal symbol of freedom and democracy.

The United Nations spent a minute of silence to honor him shortly after his death from a long battle of illness was announced to the world. 

A staunch anti-apartheid hero, he spent 27 years in prison after being convicted for sabotage and trying to overthrow the government. An international ‘Free Mandela Campaign’ was launched. He was freed in 1990 bringing along with him the commercialization and eventual branding  of his prison number 46664 to help his people rise from the greed of politics and poverty.   

During his presidency (1994-1999) He steered South Africa to heights never known to his race and made it more palatable to the world.

Those who knew him by virtue of chance and longtime friendship describe Mandela as compassionate, as someone with a deep sense of forgiveness, and overly kind and mindful to the plight of others. He never took credit for himself for all that has been done to South Africa and its people.

He stood tall by himself, even taller among his peers. He's got the groove and he loved to strut to the rhythm and the beat making his moves famous and what is now called the 'Mandela Jive'.

People knew him as sometimes mischievously  inappropriate. Scooping women on their wastes and giving them a hug as if taking in the life he sorely missed while in incarceration. He always gets away with every mischief, with a smile. 

The world is at the same time sad and happy on his passing. In sadness, today’s generation realizes that there is nobody else living right now that is (even) comparable to Mandela. In rejoicing, Mandela is now resting in the company of angels that  lulled him in deep peace and tranquility while fighting for his life. Finally, mankind can now focus on his legacy and extraordinary deeds that inspired and greatly impacted the world and the rulers of men.

In his tribute to Mandela, US President Barack Obama, a self-confessed Mandela follower and supporter perfectly summed up the late leader’s life in a phrase. ‘He no longer belongs to us. He belongs to the ages’.

Indeed, ‘Madiba’ is no longer with us, but he will live forever in every peace-loving heart’s memory in this lifetime and beyond.

 

'Sometimes, I feel like one on the sidelines, and who has missed life itself'

- Nelson Mandela