It’s sad I could not feel the Christmas spirit. Perhaps it’s the horrendous news in media nowadays. Not even the Pacquiao’s win and Penaflorida’s award boost my morale. In fact, I even feel sad that their achievements (expecially Penaflorida’s) has been shadowed by the gruesome news that followed their victories.

Eleksyon na kasi.

I think I’ll burst if I hear another unqualified person files his/her certificate of candidacy. Maybe every citizen is unqualified one way or another.

Ideally, one should look at competency and platform of the candidate during elections. Then again, our democracy is a mile away from reaching the ideal state. So what now?

Haaaaayy….

I never thought I could reach our home three days later.

Everyone knows the story. Typhoon Ondoy, although projeted to only be a small typhoon, destroyed the Greater Manila Area and other provinces. Unlike Milenyo, Ondoy packed itself with so much rain water that it made rivers out of roads and islands out of houses — big or small.

My brother’s house wasn’t spared. For two days, we took refuge on the second floor while the flood water entered the house. Transferring the car to a higher lot didn’t help at all. It was completely submerged in the flood and we could only watch from afar. For fear of being electrocuted, I switched off our main power. Food was another problem. We only had cooked food to last us a night and none of us didn’t dare to go downstairs and scavenge for food — not until we’re sure that the water will not rise again. Marooned in our brother’s home. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

What made me even more nervous was the fact that my whole family were separated the whole duration of the storm. Four little groups with little to no means for communication since the ladlines are dead and so are cellphone signals. Through sporadic text messages, I learned that my parents were stranded from Saturday till Sunday afternoon on a nearby mall. My sister had to stay on her officemate’s dorm and didn’t come home till Monday afternoon. The house in Antipolo was spared but the neighborhood also had flood water problems.

The days after the storm were no walk in the park either. Clean-up, repairs, search and rescue operations, relief operations, friend roll call, reporting back to work, opportunistic politicians, blamming games — not to mention the self-inflicted paranoia that rendered me paralyzed even with just a slight rain shower. Good thing we can still see the silver lining — bayanihan, out pouring donations, volunteerism, stories of bravery. These are new blog posts all together. I could even make a book out of it. But now is not the time. All I could think of is how we can all bounce back and fast.

And now another storm threatens the country with much more danger than Ondoy. Pepeng is now named a supertyphoon and experts say it could even cause more damage to the country. This time will be different. This time, we’re (semi)prepared. I took a whole day leave so that we can do the final clean-up and prepare my brother’s house for Pepeng and retreat to our home in Antipolo. It’s tough to leave my work hanging but I don’t want to be separated with my family again. I bought food and supplies that could hopefully last us until the storm ends. The whole family is staying in the mothership — cars parked safely in the garage. This time, we’re ready.

Then again, who would have thought two storms will hit the country in such a short time. Oh dear Lord, please save us from another devastation.

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UPDATE (October 3, morning): News say Pepeng changed its course and it will no longer affect Southern Luzon. I just hope that Northern Luzon will not experience too much damage.

UPDATE (October 4): Greater Manila Area is spared. Pepeng damaged Northern Luzon — killing 15 when it left. When will things go back to “normal”?

UPDATE (October 10): Because of another storm Pepeng u-turned to Ilocos. Death toll is above 150 now.

While my officemates are excited with their upcoming vacation (may it be Bohol, Palawan or maybe Boracay), I was planning a weekend or two of having to lounge around at home and/or the mall with my Dearest or my friends. Oh, and yeah, my friends and I were planning to go to EK to. A childhood wish that was postponed ever since we last went there.

Due to work schedules, we had to postpone the EK trip to another date. No bitterness here, as it didn’t seem right to go to Laguna with an empty car seat. Happiness minus one (or two) was never an option for us in the first place.

Bitterness came when I was issued a ticket for an honest mistake.

Instead of EK, we opted to go to Mall of Asia instead. It has been a long time since I set foot on the monumental shopping grounds and Pam and Michelle had never been there since it first opened. I offered the car and my driving services so that we can get there early. “EDSA would be free and smooth-sailing on Saturdays,” I thought. So I turned right to Ortigas from Libis and managed to turn left to EDSA while the light was still green…

However, I was pulled over by two MMDA officers saying that I entered the Bus lane.

Never mind the fact that the signs were so confusing it was almost impossible to see if the road is still open or fenced shut. I still entered the wrong lane.

It also didn’t matter that he private vehicle lane and the Bus lane will merge a few meters away PLUS there are no buses in sight. I still entered the wrong lane.

Besides, according to the MMDA, lane segregation is there to prevent road accidents. If you ask me, I’d rather they have the roads segregated from the raging motorcycles.

I did promise to become a law-abiding citizen especially way back in Grade school/Highschool when we recite the “Panatang Makabayan” every week of our lives. And I don’t have any problems with the MMDA officers, either. Save for the fact that they gave me the ticket, they were easy to talk to and were kind enough to give us directions on not to be caught anymore.

What bugs me are the traffic rules I supposedly broke. It is an inch away from being stupid and reading their PSAs are even more dangerous than actually entertaining a call on your cellphone. Driving is enough chore and attention-grabbing as it is. Also, this “rule” might not apply a year from now. And if it does, I just end up being a victim of circumstance and a P500 ticket.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still pay the fine. I guess I should avoid EDSA for now.

I was only a year old when EDSA 1 happened and my memories of her presidency were the numerous brown-outs that taught me to play outside even after the moon shines over my head. I wouldn’t know if her presidency was the best thing that happened to our country — history will be the judge of that. What I’ll miss about her is her (and her husband’s) capability to just draw people closer, effortlessly (in 2 different ways, of course). I remember that high school field trip in Tarlac when I caught myself just staring at Ninoy and Cory’s wedding portrait for a good minute or two.

Charisma is truly a rare gift which I also pray for, myself. Although, if it is The Almighty’s will to bestow it to someone else, I just hope that whoever has it would use it for the good of the many.

Rest in Peace, Mrs. Aquino.