I’ve been sitting in reverie of Paris since 6th grade. I’ve been wanting to look for the lost Peter Pan as early as five years old, the same age when I started to dance with the moonlight in a pizza box. Absolutely, it’s my titanic ice cream cake to see the world. It is, even though I am a struggling traveler celebrating the hole at the bottom of my argyle sock.

      On the 26th of September, Ondoy almost ate my titanic ice cream cake. On that day, seeing Mother Nature full of mercy became as impossible as hunting for mountain lions.

Many Filipinos lost their homes.
Many Filipinos went hungry.
Many Filipinos suffered.
Many Filipinos cried.
Many Filipinos died.

“Government’s reappearance last Friday merely gave a face to corruption. Corruption was the lifeboats that should have been there but were not because the money had been stolen. Corruption was the pile of relief goods that should have been there but was not because the money had been stolen. Corruption was the dams and garbage incinerators and drainage systems and relocation areas for those living beside creeks that should have been there but were not because the money had been stolen.”
-Conrado de Quiros, Preparedness

      Every Filipino has been conducting his own personal revolution since the day a few coins were dropped into a plastic cup on a busy road, and the day a dumpsite became a home. Every Filipino has been delivering a state-of-his-own-nation address since the day corruption, chaos, and crises killed innocence and hope.

      Sure, one can blame the government. I, for one, can’t help thinking that the sky would soon smash our feet because of the blatant transgression of law of some of our leaders. Blame Mother Nature? The plastic manufacturer? The bosses of big factories? Well, it’s your voice, but don’t forget that endless bickering never makes music. Your life is your paddle, and the locus of control is not always, and not only, extrinsic.

      Despite all the loss, we’re still here; we prayed, we believed, we moved. That’s what’s important after the tumult struck the riff-raff. We inspired. We all, in different ways, saved a life.

      Thank YOU for this second life.