Sometime in my dreary past, I recall one well-respected professor's lecture. He said that calamities only happen when there are people who are affected. If nobody's around, then the flood, hurricane, volcanic eruption, storm, flood and whatnot is just an ordinary occurence in nature.
The "city dream" has brought so many people from the provinces to Metro Manila, in hopes of a better life. I know it's not the time for blame, but if everyone who had some kind of capability provided opportunities for our countrymen outside the metro, then they wouldn't have given up everything to come to the city for a measly two to three-digit measly wage.
If there's anyone to blame, I blame our whole nation for making the city life appear more glorious, more successful, more promising than it actually is. I blame the TV shows and movies that say, "Hey, everyone who's anyone lives in the city!" I blame any cityfolk who comes to the provinces and brags about how "great" his life is. I blame anyone from the provinces who comes home to brag about all his/her imitation bags, clothes and dvds and basks in the envy of his neighbors and friends. I blame the people from the provinces for not knowing any better, and I blame everyone else (myself included) for not having done anything sooner and contributed to this calamity one way or another.
I've never been much of a believer in a god who punishes his people and motivates them through rewards. I've always believed that, if there is someone (or someones) or something (or somethings) out there, watching out for us, then he/she/it/they would not want for anything bad to happen to us. He/she/it/they would do his/her/its/their best to protect their people.
So, at times like this, my faith becomes even stronger. I do not know who or what is out there, but to think that Ondoy has left such a small body count (yes, it actually is small if you compare it with the number of survivors), I can't help but believe that someone, something, somewhere, made that small body count possible. Just enough to make us listen, but not so many that we, as a people, cannot rise again.
