THE GOOD SIDES OF SENDONG

Sendong came to Cagayan de Oro and left tragic memories most especially to the people who were affected by the tropical storm. Many lives have disappeared by an instant, lots of houses and properties have been destroyed, and people experienced water crisis and some acquired leptospirosis. These incidents, however they are negative ones, there are still lots of good sides that had happened due to Sendong. One positive effect is that we can see that the Filipino people helping one another and do the “bayanihan” thing. It only shows that Filipino people cared for their fellow Filipinos who were affected by the storm. Many volunteered themselves and gave their efforts and time to help. Many donated food, clothing and other things that the victims need most. Many cared for those people and many comforted them by giving their time to listen and letting them feel they are not alone. I can also say that what happened to Sendong is a pile of lessons that God wants us to learn from it. Now, from what had happened, people realized that the disaster is a way of God saying that “Take good care of your environment”. God created the sea, the land, the mountains and everything around us but what did the people do? People wasted too much of it. There are many illegal loggers and they gain profit and money by destroying the forests and the worst fact is that they are not replacing the trees they logged with new ones. In addition, many people are not even disciplined. They tend to throw their garbage everywhere and not even caring that they already contributed to the thing we called as “Global warming”. I remember once a speaker in a disaster prevention seminar said, “The issue is not focused on Global warming but instead, it’s on “Global warning”. What that speaker said made a big impact on me. He is very right. It is a warning that people should not take for granted. It is a warning that telling the people to change and that change is for the better. For the environment, we should care and will not do things that would cause to destroy it. People also realized the precious value of “Water”. Water is life I can say and that I prefer our electricity will be gone rather than water. It is not easy to have no water. It is one that sustains us to keep living and if water would be lost, what will happen to the people? That thing happened to the people of Cagayan de Oro. People experienced water crisis and they realized that water is far more important and we should never ever waste it. The people have also reali

zed the value of the “Family and love ones”. It is like saying that spend everyday with your family as if it’s like your last day because you’ll never know when will God call us and say “Come to me”. You have to cherish and make them smile and let them feel how much you love them so that you’ll never have regrets in the future. It’s just like you have to Live, love and laugh for the days of your life. ♥