[Oe List ...] Fwd: for Thursday Dec. 5 from Jaime

[wangzhimu2031 at aol.com]

Peoples Power to thequick



 
It has almost been a month since Typhoon Yolanda's (Haiyan) strongand unprecedented belch spewed over the central islands of the Philippinearchipelago.  Having invested presenceand energy on the affected area two decades ago, I was quick to develop empathyto the aftermath's innocent suffering, but disciplined enough to distancemyself emotionally from the disaster.  Visibly,whatever tangible accomplishments we might have contributed before were wipedout, but I was confident that the human spirit we shared with folks stayedaround longer.
 
It is Peoples Power II, not in protest against the likes ofa Ferdinand Marcos, or a seemingly uncomfortable President Benigno NoynoyAquino, but in the building of something new from the old, now obliterated forgood.  That is the unmistakable lesson wehear from friends and associates in the region who have buckled up and rolledup their sleeves to proceed with the building process.
 
I am reminded of the time I was a resident community worker inthe village of Sudtonggan, Basak, Lapu-Lapu City on Mactan Island in CebuProvince, a project demonstration site.  While my wife and I were facilitating acommunity replication consult at the other end of the island, our staffresidence in the middle of the coral-limestone studded village burned down. 
 
There were no fatal casualties but our two daughters, along withchildren of other staff members, ran out into safety practically naked sincesleeping in the tropical humid atmosphere did not require pajamas, or much ofanything else.  I recall a couple ofvillage homes taking their children's Sunday clothes, offering them for ourchildren's use.  I lost two items ofcommercial value: an Italian hand made pair of comfortable loafers, and an oldCartier watch, gifts from a previous life style.
 
What a liberating incident the conflagration was for notonly did I no longer had to worry about the meager wealth I owned, I was also agrateful recipient of the care and compassion of those I had come to serve and laborwith.  Suddenly our roles werereversed.   It was at once a humbling and freedom-boostingoccasion.
 
Something of this nature occupied my mind as I got news fromcolleagues across the Visayas, and as reports from the devastated areas beganto filter out into the world's press.  Ihave grown rather confident through the years in the resiliency of theworld-wise street-smart Pinoy with whom I identify with, along with manyFilipinos in diaspora around the world from whose ranks some emerged, and I wasseeing the traits of practical realism on display in the ruins of Tacloban.
 
Consider China's rude awakening from the viciousness ofinternational media attack on what was considered a paltry contribution tohumanitarian aid (at the time, China herself suffered the onslaught of Haiyanin its southern flank), particularly from American news services and theirinternational outlets.  
 
China's response requires no defense.  I am an American of Philippine descentteaching English in China's northeast in Manchuria so I bridge the threecountries involved.  To help understandcontemporary China, I was in Ya-an in Sichuan this summer where a 2008 quake devastatedthe area eliciting an outpouring of world wide aid, but the replay in 2012 hadthe locals saying, "thanks, but no, thanks", to offers of financialaid from the international community. They resolved to rebuild their communities from the ground up themselveswith national assistance.  Not withoutblemish, we note.  Internal fund-raisingincluded fake claims and luxuriant expenditures from those who heeded theirgreed at the expense of a needful mass.
 
When a Pinay in Leyte-Samar was asked what she thought ofChina's meager relief response, she said, "Oh, we do not think in terms ofhow much; to anything offered, we say, salamat(thank you)".   The first Chinese volunteerswho landed to deliver aid heard typhoon victims egg them on with the Zhongwen "kuai, kuai, kuai" (quick, quick,quick) to get them where they wereneeded. 
 
Quietly, but quickly, a flotilla of 50 U.S. Naval vesselsand more than 10,000 personnel delivered relief food and water by sea, land,and air.  A critic of military imperialpresence and pretentions in the region, I genuinely doff my hat to the organizedgrunts and fliers who delivered needed goods.  We can get our drone technology to serve weatherforecasting, and military discipline to organize humanitarian efforts, and I reserve the option to execute myROTC hand salute each time I see Old Glory flying over military equipment andpersonnel!
 
Pinoy Peoples Power is a phenomenon around the world, apedin the gathered crowd of Arab Spring to even the clashing but dancing Red and YellowThais who leave on their own volition after occupying public buildings.
 
Peoples Power in the reconstruction of a new Samar-Leyte (theresort island of Guiuan, Eastern Samar is already high profile) is the Pinoy'sagenda, harnessing the native powers of balikatanand bayanihan, forgiving butmanaging the rapacious propertied class and the opportunistic looters, towards a resilient and creativePinoylandia!  And do so, in the new but nowwidely used term in a normally laidback land: kuai, kuai, kuai!


Jaime Vergara
pinoypanda2031 at aol.com

yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!


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