A true story experience sa typhoon ondoy in Marikina..A first boat in providence

[kalawkaw23]

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Hapit ko maka hilak sa gipakita nga resilience sa amahan to rescue his family..

So sad…..but unfortunately true……..becca

Yesterday, at the height of the floods, my sister's husband Rey whose family lives at

Provident Village in Marikina, got a call from his brother. They were already at the

Roof of their 2-storey house -- his brother, his wife, 2 kids, his sister, and their 85-

year old dad who just got out of the hospital last week.

Not wanting to rely on our USELESS government to rescue them, Rey went to Makati and scoured the stores for a motorized boat that he can buy. At around 6 p.m., he finally found a store at Reposo Street selling a 6-seater motorized boat for over 100k.



But since water at Reposo was lagpas-tao, he persuaded the store owner to just ride the boat and bring it to Greenbelt where he was.

Immed iately after, Rey put the boat on his pick-up and drove as far as he could en

route to Marikina.. The nearest dry land was the Sta. Clara Church which was still

way too far from Provident.

Suffice it to say that for somebody who was maneuvering a motorboat for the first time in his life, Rey arrived Provident at 12:30 a.m. When he entered the village, everyone was screaming thinking that it was already the government's rescue team. REY WAS THE FIRST TO BRAVE PROVIDENT ON A MOTORIZED BOAT with just SHEER WILL steering him.

Meanwhile, our USELESS GOVERNMENT was holding a press conference announcing their relief operations as they kept on saying that they could not get into Provident just yet to save people hanging on to their dear lives on top of their roofs because the currents were too strong for them!!

HELLO!!! Please tell me why they can't and my private citizen brother-in-law who does not even know how to drive a boat before he purchased it could

Rey had to turn a deaf ear to people screaming for help as he entered their village because he had his family, especially his 85-year old dad in mind. The waters were too high that he was actually holding on to the Meralco wires! He was shouting for his brother's name as he could not even locate where their house was amidst the sea of mudwater.

When he finally found them, he had to hold back from breaking down as he saw his dad at the apex of their roof holding to a string of blankets just ! so he will not get swept by the currents! He "parked" his boat on their roof gutter and first loaded his dad and 8-year old nephew who by that time was already chilling from the cold. They have been atop the roof since 1 p.m. with wet clothes on and no food or water to even drink.

It took Rey 2 hours to navigate back to Sta. Clara church to drop off his dad and nephew, came back for his sister-in-law and another nephew. It was 3 a.m. by the time Rey reached Sta. Clara church again, with his sister in law and nephew, before making a final trip to get his sister. By this time, media were there and NDCC people assisting his sister-in-law to get off the boat.

GIBO TEODORO had the gall to tell media that government rescue operations are now on-going, alluding to the footage of my brother in law rescuing his family!!!

And these stupid NDCC people were even asking Rey's sister-in-law to remove her lifejacket and return itto them! Hello, everything was theirs, from the boat, to the lifejackets, to the sheer will and determination to keep their family alive!!!

He wanted to keep coming back to save his other neighbors but his tired body could not anymore. So he decided to take a rest at his sister's house at Valle Verde till around 9 a.m. today. Then they went back only to find how cars were piled up like matchboxes. His brother's Patrol, Camry, and Galant were supposed to be safely parked at the village main avenue as historically this was the highest point of the village.

Sadly, the cars were nowhere to be found, washed away like toy cars... but what was even worse was seeing bodies already floating around, including the body of a 3-month old baby stuck in a car windshield. As it was too devastating a sight for them to take already, they decided to just lend the boat to for others to use to save more lives.

Meanwhile, we see our government making all these excuses why they cannot save people faster... Meanwhile we hear of D! evil Gloria Arroyo spending the Ps 800 million Emergency contingency fund to finance her recent foreign trips... Meanwhile we hear of Mikey Arroyo shamelessly admitting how his net worth ballooned within the few years that his family has been in power! SUCH SHAMELESS GREED!!!

I love the Philippines and I do wish for a better Philippines for my children's sake. But during times like these it makes you wish that you were living in another country where you dial 911 and help will be forthcoming.

Rey had the presence of mind, sheer will, and financial resources to buy a boat on the spot and put matters into his own hands. But what if it were the other way around and he had to wait for our USELESS GOVERNMENT to rescue his dad? We only shudder at the thought of what would have happened to his family, especially Lolo Manny, if and when rescue finally comes--which for many less fortunate souls, until now has not come!

Joe J. Ramos

-The 1st Boat in Provident

[Eiso]

kuwaya gud ani...
pero at least na buhat dayon sa atong government ang pag rescue.. compared sa hurricane katrina..

[nikki_louise]

maka ingon gyud ko swerte ra gyud ta diri

[vahnhelsing]

mao na diha... hambogero kaayo ta ug gobyerno ron... wa diay ikabuga sa lunop... e.compare nalang gud nila sa US. abi kay naigo sila sa katrina mobuhat nalang sad ta ug excuse... saon ning pilipinas, new philippines kuno.. para ni kinsa ang new philippines new breed sa mga buaya hahay... pwd palang kanang mga buaya sa atong gobyerno maoy lunopan!!!! para malunod!!!! sus.. pait.. no wonder daghan ang gusto molayas sa pilipinas bisan sakit sa kabobot.on...

[BananaQ]

Don't rely on the Philippine government for anything. Help is really slow! With any natural disaster, better prepare yourself

Maski kinsa president so far diri sa Philippines, naa man jud typhoon and other natural disasters. Wa man jud tay luxury nga motawag lang ug 911 then magpa rescue. Even in times of other emergencies such as fire, the Volunteer Fire Brigade comes before the Fire Department! There are times in Cebu when ERUF really helps but have heard of stories in Manila nga namatay na lang sa ka traffic ang gitabang! Also, the police will most likely just file a report... kay panagsa ra na nga mo-abot jud dayon nga naa pa diha ang criminal, except siguro kung ang criminal mao pud ang pulis. Naa na sila diha daan... Oh well...

During time ni Cory, kadaghan ra natural disasters... naay earthquake, hing erupt ang Mt. Pinatubo, nag typhoon Uring sa Ormoc, etc. Mao ra man gihapon to... or mas worse pa gani ang rescue operations ato nga time sa kadaghan disasters. Mas ok pa sa Cebu ato kay naa si Lito Osmena, arang2 diri sa Cebu ang pag handle sa Typhoon Ruping. Di man jud ka expect nga kanang mga government people nga motabang jud compare sa atong own family and friends gud.

Ang nakabati lang jud aning administration ni PGMA karon, kusog jud mo angkon ug something nga di man tawon sila gabuhat. Kani siya, giangkon nga part sa government rescue. Kanang mga OFWs, gi angkon nga result kuno na sa foreign trips ni PGMA... bisan gani ug private companies na doing their own recruiting, unya ang mga OFWs applied indepedently, ila gihapon angkonon nga silay maayo. Mao bitaw manglayas na nang mga OFW kay wa moy ikahatag nga nindot trabaho diri, unya kamo hinuon ang hawod nga nakakita na sila ug trabaho sa ilang kaugalingong hago... Hasta pag lunod sa Princess of the Stars, mo issue pa ug statement sa media that PGMA is ordering a search and rescue operation... Hoy, di diay na automatic. Nganong ipa starring pa man na siya diha oi.

[jrconde]

sana maraming tao katulad nya.

[potterboy]

This is true. Grabe ning hitaboa. I live in a subdivision just beside Ortigas extension (Sample newspaper captions with men walking on wires is just a few blocks from it).

Since we are very near the main road where the rescue points should be, we should have felt their presence already. Instead, it took them 1.5 days to start the rescue operations. Their alibi, is that the area is inaccessible. How stupid is that? My brother and I rowed our rubberboat to transfer people to highplaces for almost 2 straight days!!! We never had the time to sleep and almost even eat. My brother even collapsed due to stress and dehydration! Come to think of it, we are able to go to the entry points where they said are impossible to pass through multiple times... on a rubberboat!

Given the nature of what happened, I just couldn't help thinking, what was the level of preparation the government had in their backs for this kind of disaster? What were those budgets for? they had to expect something like this could happen, right?

[peewee_toot]

your brother is a hero!