Think about it
Solidarity
By Jun Velasco
“THIS is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalms 118:24
YOU won’t easily get the message of that line if you are in the midst of a merciless lash that has battered our country.
Be in the Lord’s mode first.
The Visayan phenomena, starting with the Bohol earthquake followed by Super typhoon Yolanda, have devastated us after being shaken by human greed in the Pork Barrel scam.
These days we must be at our wit’s end on what the Lord is trying to say … to us and to the thousands killed, bloodied, maimed and rendered homeless!
On the basis of what we think on how justice works — divine or human — or the casual “what-you-sow-you-reap” reminder, we consider the confluence of events way beyond our own comprehension.
We square off with ourselves.
Have we been fair with our fellowmen?
Have we done our best following God’s will?
We can only fall back to what the Lord has to say, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6.
Some people are comparing the Tacloban devastation to that of World War 2.
We hasten to say, though we were not born before or during the war, that we know that Filipinos then had the opportunity to seek cover, run for safety and hide when the Japs were coming!
Not in Yolanda’s case.
Even the well-heeled couple, Mayor Alfredo Romualdez and his beautiful wife, Councilor Christina, literally hung for dear life when in the midst of the storm surge.
There were other gorier cases of mothers, fathers, children killed or bloodied and left without food or almost a week days after Yolanda struck.
We could only cry unashamedly. Pity those who did not have the capacity to feel our brothers’ pain!
There are times when the act of crying is noble, being in league with brother and sister across the miles! The tragedy showed government as inept even under an honest President.
We are not prepared to handle emergencies of such magnitude. To add insult to injury, unscrupulous thieves attacked like vultures.
We thought there’d be nothing anymore but the uniting power of brotherhood.
Let’s salute those who have done something for their suffering countrymen.
Gov. Spines cancelled the traditional December Christmas Party and instead sent P4-million to a relief center. Nelson Sotto texted us Rep. Gina and former Speaker Joe de Venecia have sent theirs, too.
Congressman Pol Bataoil was with Speaker Belmonte and other solons to craft congressional action on the tragedy, each solon parting away with his own money and giving up his 2013 PDAF in the name of the typhoon victims.
Being battle-tested on relief and disaster work, Pol offered his services to where the action is.
Mayor Belen Fernandez, Gonz told us, was meeting with the SP, to appropriate its share easing the typhoon victims’ anguish.
We bumped into Dr. Tranquilino Umang of Mapandan, who immediately sent 4,000 bottles of his healing water via ABS-CBN to a relief center.
Four days after Yolanda struck, we saw the wifey and our house help gathering from the cabinet bundles of clothes, shoes, slippers and sank these in a cloth sack and a box and “ordered” us to drive to GMA 7 where we saw news anchor Alfie Tulagan.
We also texted Atty. Ope Reyna who’s overseeing the Dagupan Fiesta and DCNHS Alumni’s Dec. 28 grand homecoming to “simplify” things in keeping with the times.
Two other hi school classmates Brenda Manese and Jaime Siapno said they were in solidarity mode appealing for austerity measures.
While writing this, Alfred Dawana called from San Francisco to echo Jimmy Munoz’s suggestion to use parachutes to bring the relief goods to the needy in Tacloban and the other centers of tragedy amid victims’ outrage they have been abandoned.
Dawana further urged authorities to watch out for robbers and thieves, knowing many Filipinos are loco even during calamities.
What’s God’s plan for us all?
Allow us to pick from the book “Making Life Work” by Ptr. Bill Hybels.
“God has a plan, a future and a hope, for each of us, with our own name on it.
Though God doesn’t promise a life free from problems or pain, he does promise a life that is too good to miss.
But we will never discover that life—that adventure!—until we entrust ourselves to his guidance and leadership.
God knows us better than we know ourselves. He understands our capabilities and our limitations. He knows exactly what pitfalls we need to avoid and sees the full scope of our potential.
He has his sights set high for us, and he is willing to give us every form of assistance we need to live out his perfectly designed plan. But we need to turn to him and trust him fully.
Whatever step of faith you need to take, I hope and pray that you will take it. I don’t know what God has in store for your life, but I do know that it is an adventure you won’t want to miss!”
Amen.
* * * *
NOTES: Our partner in JDV’s congressional office in the 80’s and 90’s, Fina Panilla, chairperson of Silungan na Panangaro in Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan, is urging kindhearted fellowmen to support her project, building a home to provide a sanctuary for the poor and needy in the third district.
Her family has donated a 1,200 sq meter-lot in Barangay Sapang with an initial two 10-bed wards complete with toilets and bathrooms.
Officers of Silungan are Josefina Dacasin-Panilla, chairperson; Salvador Bautista, president; Dr. Emmanuel Cabangon and Bernadette Munoz-Roco, vice presidents; Florante Natividad, secretary; Rosalinda Ulanday-Balolong, treasurer, and Gilda Bautista-Ison, auditor; Johnson Corpuz, Jeselette De Guzman-Desamero, Laura Siapno-Fernandez, Primo F. Laforteza, M.D, Elnore Balolong-Montano, Gracia Sanedrin-Padlan, trustees; Josefina Dacasin-Parilla, Rev. Fr. Fidelis B. Layog, Gen. Reynaldo V. Velasco, Atty. C. Maribelle D. Ferrer, Dr. Emmanuel T. Cabangon, Albertini S. de Guzman, Gilda Bautista-Ison, incorporators.
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