Photo courtesy of Pastor Dennis Sy (through facebook)
One thing I love about our Filipino culture is the bayanihan spirit that is very, very evident these days in the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy.
As of last night, more than 300,000 people have been displaced and/or affected directly by the massive flooding caused by a heavy, 6-hour rain that almost caused a standstill at the Greater Manila area and major parts of the Rizal Province.
In my blog yesterday, I wrote that Marikina City remains covered with mud and debris caused by the overflowing of the Marikina River at the height of the torrential rains.
Montalban, Cainta (which is still flooded and some part of the road impassable by vehicles), along with San Mateo were also hit heavily by flood and rain.
Hundreds were rendered homeless, in need of food and water as well as medicine.
And while Ondoy left a gigantic need and a trail of dead, injured and homeless, Filipinos from different parts of the National Capital Region and well as provinces just outside of the NCR have thrown all kinds of support to the victims of the typhoon.
My wife, Ava was sharing to me over dinner how God can use crisis like the one brought by Ondoy, to bring unity in our nation.
I agree with that.
I believe in every bad situation, God can bring something good out of it.
And in our case, the good that happened was that people from various status in life joined forces to help each other pick up the pieces of their broken lives.
Over at Victory, relief goods continue to pour in at the different centers—Fort, Ortigas, Quezon City, Caloocan City and here at U-Belt.
Allow me to thank all those who have donated food, medicine, clothes and blankets during the past few days when we began the relief operations.
There is still so much work to do to help those who were affected and displaced by the typhoon, but one thing is sure, we are all making a contribution towards rebuilding our nation.