I used to think that among the four elements of matter, “fire” was the most powerful. Typhoon Odette slapped me in the face.
Science has long taught us that there are four basic elements of matter: earth, air, water, and fire. GMA network’s “Encantadia” used the powers of these elements to entertain many Filipinos of all ages through this TV show which later came out in different remakes after its debut in 2005. Back then, I remember excitedly going home from work (yes, I am a millennial!) just to catch the show. It was one of the few things that made me unhappy during Saturdays and Sundays, knowing that I had to wait for next Monday evening to reunite with my most admired and most hated characters in the “teleserye”.
Fast forward, I later thought of people’s lives as series of channels. Each day, we switch a channel forward or sometimes backward when we replay some scenes. They occupy time, space, and a portion of our biological memory.
However, December 17, 2021 was a channel that left me, and perhaps many of us, as one of the most indelible marks. The episode, which no one in his/her right mind must dare replay, but cannot be forgotten nor rewritten because of the important concomitant learnings and realizations that it brought me.
Like in scary movies, good characters sometimes surprisingly turn out to become villains of the story. Throughout our lifetimes, we heavily depended on these four elements for our survival. To make food, we cultivate the soil, and plant fruit-bearing trees and grow vegetables in the land. To cook food, we use fire. To build shelter, we plant trees that are later transformed into logs for our houses. Trees that generate the oxygen that we breathe, and air that naturally ventilated every human being. The same trees’ roots can create springs that generate water needed by our body to survive.
But Odette made us realize that these elements, which we value and spend so much time, money, and effort creating and reproducing can also serve as nature’s vessel to turn against us. Odette seemed to have possessed the wind, the water, and the land. She brought volumes of water that inundated our lowlands and caused landslides on many highlands, damaging and tearing apart many houses, and either killed or sickened many of our livestock and beloved pets. The most powerful wind I have ever laid eyes on and experienced as it forcibly prodded me multiple times against the wall while being rescued from our billeted room (at San Rafael, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan) at around 9 in the evening. As we walked barefooted through the muddy, knee-level water, with our heads draped with towels and curtains and our bodies bent forward to avoid flying objects hitting our heads, the whistles from the mighty winds that used to flatter me this time had uprooted, severed, and toppled down many trees along our path. Many of these tree trunks and parts landed and totaled our roofs and houses, our vehicles, and other properties that we invested in over a long period of time. Albeit not listed in the reported local typhoon-related incidents, in many other countries, strong winds can hasten the movement of fire, which can consume tons of trees and narrow many houses and properties into ashes.
In a snap, Odette flicked our houses and precious belongings — big and small, levitated our roofs and clothes away into nowhere, played our livestock under the water like puppets until they stopped breathing, cut our power lines and bridges, turned our roads into a garbage hodge-podge, made a soil juice out of our potable water, disconnected our internet and telecom signal (as means of communication), has shaken our faith and beliefs, and in worst few cases, taken the lives of our loved ones.
We were caught unprepared for this type and level of catastrophe. Palawan has long celebrated that image of being the safest paradise to live and retire. Though we maintain our resolve to sustain this blessing, Odette has made us realize that we can never be too complacent.
But like all TV shows, good or bad, an experience like this only occupies a limited time slot or airtime. This, too, shall pass and “past” it did.
If movies have the priests to exorcise the possessed, we have the almighty powerful one – God to thank, and with our hands held together praying for continued guidance and strength to move forward to total recovery.
The trauma of watching this episode of our lives may take a little longer to clear away. But, as a proud Filipino who trumpets resilience and grace amidst adversity, I know that everything will be alright for all of us, if we will think and act appropriately and timely.
Unlike the movies, there is no quick reset. We have to do it one step at a time. Starting with rebuilding ourselves by perhaps, setting our mindset in the right direction and “editing” our realities and priorities. At the next level, we can help our significant others or loved ones in moving forward with their lives. We need to be ready to rebuild more typhoon-resilient houses, careers, and dreams, and finally, help others to do the same. After all, we cannot give what we do not “yet” have. As cliché as it may sound, I still believe in the saying “kapag sama-sama, kayang kaya”.
As I write this article, there were already quick fixes and solutions undertaken through the concerted efforts of the resilient and brave Palaweños, particularly in the City proper where electricity, water supply, and telecommunication have been gradually restored earlier than promised. For this, we thank our brave soldiers and frontliners, local officials, private individuals, and institutions/organizations for their quick response and laudable efforts. A special mention and thanks go to my fellow workers in the government and the state Universities and colleges who continue to undertake similar efforts in the pursuit of more responsive and much-needed extension initiatives and projects during this time of crisis. May these courageous and selfless efforts continue to multiply.
Let all of these efforts and developments be a beacon of hope and inspiration to those communities and fellow Palaweños who are still in the dark, isolated, and still reeling from this temporary setback.
Just like in the movies, the plot spells out the reason why a vessel is possessed by an unwelcome entity, to which I allude “Odette”, a name which sounds like a way of conjuring “death”, as in “Oh Death”.
Perhaps, there is another way of looking at this experience. It provides us a chance to revisit our practices and policies, the way we do things, our belief systems, and our directions. At this time, I would like to leave the answers to the creative and intelligent minds of our local officials and citizens.