Typhoon Caloy

We did not lose mangoes as most Batanguenos sadly experienced. Still unripe for the picking, many mangoes fell and some trees hit the electricity lines, and the lights went off for three days! Of course it’s not just the mango tree which fell, but also the mahogany, the very old acacia in our plaza, the yellow bell in my brother’s front yard and the Langka tree in our church (Eugene, our elder, has yet to come up with creative ideas on what can be done with the wood, so the tree remains in its present broken state). Rain penetrated our little makeshift sala outside, and all the rags in my mother’s baul had to be washed since we used up every available cloth to absorb the water, otherwise, the house will be flooded. The roofs were too noisy and the wind was howling that I thought nobody slept the night Caloy passed this city of beaches.

It was only my mother and myself in the house. I was thinking of all possible emergency measures just in case the roof would fly. In spite of the rain, it was humid inside the house because we could not open the windows and the fans were simply dead. I was thinking of who I could call, but even if I called my brother, he wouldn’t be available, because all MERALCO linemen were at work 24 hours during those three days. I was already worrying about my brother but he had other worries. Every possible complaint on electricity failure landed on every MERALCO employees’ desk and all they could do was assure the complainants that their men were at work and “would attend to them shortly.” But even up to this time, the damage in electricity lines have not all been fixed yet. There are simply too many problems for too few line men and meter technicians.

So every day, since “Caloy” left, my problem was the consistent brown out. While I worked on a translation, on an article, on a piece for my website, the lights would simply go off. Many times I got frustrated because, I was impatient to write again, translate again, construct again… etc. I saved some but I lost some. I’m supposed to submit a translation project this week, but because of this on and off thing, I just had to stop for a while and assess the situation to make sure that my computer systems won’t be adversely affected by the fluctuations in electricity.

The solution to my problem really is simple and it costs P2, 270. (I just asked this afternoon.) Meanwhile, my brother can tell me when the lights will go off, and until when. But sometimes, he himself is clueless on why there’s a sudden black out. The continuous black out during the time of President Ramos did not really register to me. I was even laughing at the people of New York when they panicked because of one total black out in that state once. Many Pinoys thought that they were over reacting because in this country, the Philippines, brown outs were like a lifestyle. During his time president Ramos made fast decisions that turned electricity on, but the long term “sad” effects of his decisions, are being realized only now.

This afternoon, for a short while, the lights were off again. I had encoded six pages of translation and by the time the lights were on, I learned that I lost at least three pages -- my fault really for not saving as often as I should. (I now can appreciate those business people who pressured Ramos to do what he did in the 90s power crisis). Since I depend so much on my computer to deliver my freelance job orders fast, it is always frustrating when I have to look for candles again and again. But when i had lighted the candles, I was back to thinking “deeply and meditatively”. I thought about all those classic books that I read which were written in the earlier centuries. Most of the early 19th century writers did not have computers, only typewriters. Maybe I should write on my notebooks again. Problem is that I got no storage space for the notebooks. The new cabinets are for past documents. There is nothing that will accommodate new pages of whatnots. Really, soft copies save space. But I wonder whether I can be more creative without every one of this electric equipment.

I hope and pray that no typhoon should visit us again. After Caloy, my mother fixed her plants. They were uprooted instead of broken. The winds just threw them off the pots but they stayed whole. The pots turned over but didn’t fall because my mother had seen to it that they were securely tied. Likewise, I should try to be calm and control my irritation at the disruptions. I should prepare and pray that we will face less problems at the onset of this early rainy season.