“Typhoon Ondoy: A Great Teacher”
One thing amazing about nature or natural calamity for that matter is that it teaches us mortals lessons which we will always remember for the rest of our lives.
In the case of Typhoon Ondoy, I would say, he was a great teacher. My personal experience with him on that fateful day of September 26, 2009 left me with lessons in life that I am sure I would love to tell over and over again to my future grandchildren.
I had a call time for my tv soap opera “May Bukas Pa” at 1:00 p.m. that black Saturday. Earlier, Ruben Gonzaga texted me asking if he can take a ride with me in going to the location in Bacolor, Pampanga. Originally, I was thinking of taking the Marilao, Bulacan route from my home in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan instead of passing through Balintawak. So, I told Ruben that I can’t give him a ride since I will not pass Royal Mall in Valenzuela, our usual meeting place. When my wife and I woke up at 8:00 a.m. I told my wife that I plan to go to the Saloon for my regular nails cleaning. My wife told me that she will join me as she plan to go to Makati for a 10:00 a.m. meeting. We thought of going to Quezon City and I will take her to the MRT Kamuning station. From there, she will take the MRT to Makati and I will have my nails cleaning in a saloon in Kamias road. With this change of plan, I texted Ruben Gonzaga that I could already give him a ride since I will be in Quezon City and I will instead be taking the Balintawak entry to NLEX later.
However, at 9:00 a.m., the skies were very dark and it was raining hard. It was already Typhoon Ondoy making his rainy presence felt. My wife decided not to attend her 10:00 a.m. meeting anymore. While I was driving at 9:30 a.m. I decided to have my nails cleaning in a saloon in Lagro instead of having it done in Kamias. I was the only customer when I entered the saloon at 9:45 a.m. While I was having my nails cleaning, I had a vantage position to watch the rainfall. I noticed that the rains continued to pour hard and the water on the street was rising. I worried that the flood waters would reach my car’s flooring and perhaps its engine. In a matter of hour of non-stop rain, the flood water rose about 5 inches above the street, hardly reaching the outer rim of my car’s mag wheels. The hairdressers told me that thanks to Mayor Belmonte, the drainage system in Lagro had improved but inspite of it, the rains was able to flood the streets. With my nails cleaning done at 11:00 a.m., I texted Ruben that I was already proceeding to Balintawak going to NLEX. However, when I reached Regalado Avenue (in Lagro, Quezon City), I noticed that a large portion of the street was flooded about 5 inches above the street level. I proceeded to the area near SM Fairview to see if it was possible to take the Quirino highway to Novaliches. No way. Quirino highway was full of buses and cars that were not moving. I decided to go back to Regalado Avenue and to try passing through the alternate route to Quirino highway through the Cresta Verde subdivision. I was able to pass the flooded Regalado Avenue and reached Cresta Verde only to be advised by by-standers not to proceed as the road was flooded with the height of the water rising up to a man’s neck. I drove back to Regalado Avenue and turned right to Commonwealth Avenue. It was then that I got a text from Jaime Fabregas asking if I was already in Pampanga. I texted him that I was still in Commonwealth Avenue. He texted back that he was already two hours on the road but could not manage to get out of Katipunan Avenue: the roads through UP, or Teachers Village, or C.P. Garcia Avenue or Tandang Sora were all flooded and no longer passable. He tried taking the White Plains, no way. Floods. Floods all over Metro Manila! I texted Hazel Parfan, our Associate Producer about my predicament and that I may not be able to make it to the taping. When I reached Fairview Center Mall, the vehicles ahead of me were no longer moving. I got more texts messages. Ruben Gonzaga sent several text messages that he was already at the Royal Mall in Valenzuela waiting for me. But he averred that the rainfall was also very heavy in Valenzuela. I texted Dominic Ochoa and asked who among the actors playing the roles of priests were already at the location because I was sure that he was already in Pampanga since he had an early calltime. Dom told me only Lito Pimentel, Robin Tolentino and himself were on the location. He added that it was also raining hard in Pampanga
Then, I was shocked to read a text from my office mate – Lulu Manahan asking for assistance since their house inside the North Fairview SSS Employees Housing was already flooded up to the second floor! My God, I just passed by the area awhile ago! I even noticed the rising of the floodwaters on Tulllahan River under the bridge after the SSS Housing. I was texting my wife about what was going on. After 30 minutes when the vehicles finally moved, I decided to make a U turn in front of Mc Donalds and decided to go home to Bulacan. I texted Ruben and Jaime about my decision. A few minutes later Hazel texted me that the taping was already packed up and that we need not proceed to Pampanga anymore.
When I reached home at about 2:00 p.m. my wife was watching the tv coverage of ABS-CBN of the flooding of practically the entire Metro Manila by typhoon Ondoy. Slowly, I realized that what I had just gone through was very insignificant compared to what happened in Marikina, Cainta, Pasig, San Mateo and North Fairview SSS Employees Housing.
(Next: The lessons I learned from Typhoon Ondoy)
