September 14, 2012

The half-day journey

(First published online on September 26, 2010)
 
Author's Note: Everyone has their own stories about the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) exactly a year ago. I just want to share this experience. Photo courtesy of gabusa.org.

I love to walk. Not only that I can save the money that I’ll be using as a fare, but also because I believe that it’s good for my health. Sometimes I would stroll from school to our home which was almost four kilometers away. I never complain for I know that God gave us our feet for us to use it.

However, there is one incident involving walking that I would never ever forget. It was the same time when Typhoon Ondoy stormed the whole Metro.

It was almost a week before our thesis defense and along with my groupmates, we were all cramming for our graduation would depend on whether we could defend well the study that we conducted.

Since I was somehow acting as the leader, I advised that it would be better if we meet Saturday to review every chapter of our research. September 26 last year, we decided to go to our groupmate’s house in Las Piñas. Our meeting was scheduled around 2pm and based from my calculations; my travel would entail two hours the most so I left home around noon.

The sky was dark so I brought with me an umbrella and while waiting for a bus, the heavy rain began pouring. Luckily I was able to ride the bus before the wind blew hard so at least, I wasn’t really drenched with water.

Then everything became abnormal. The rain was so heavy that for about half an hour, Taft Avenue was immediately flooded. From Quirino Ave., where I rode, to Buendia, it took us an hour, then another hour to finally reach Roxas Boulevard.

Since I knew that I was already late, I immediately texted my groupmates to inform them of my situation. They replied telling me that they were moving their things upstairs because the flood in their place in Las Piñas already covered the first floor of their house. I was shocked but then again I just told them to wait for me. Another groupmate, which would be coming from Antipolo, texted us that he could not come anymore because the roads from their place to Manila were no longer passable.

My situation, on the other hand, was that the bus I was riding was stuck along Roxas Boulevard. The rain was still pouring and it took us another two more hours just to reach the Coastal Road in Parañaque. Good thing was that the flow of traffic along Coastal Road wasn’t heavy.

But after five hours of complete sitting and without eating, all of us in the bus were once again stuck at Longos, the entry point to Las Piñas. We already finished watching two films and we’re already exhausted in our location. The bus was no longer moving and the driver informed us that they couldn’t pass anymore due to the shoulder-level flood and it might take five more hours just to wait for it to subdue. Since it was still raining, we just waited. We were like hostages of the heavy rain.

Finally, after two more hours of waiting, the rain finally stopped and since we could no longer take it, I texted my groupmates saying that I would not come anymore. Hungry, all of the passengers alighted the bus and looked for a cab that would take us home.

Unfortunately, all of the vehicles were stuck in the south bound, so I just started strolling my way. I reached the Coastal Road and still, there wasn’t any cab and believe it or not, I just took the risk of walking along the highway just to be able to go home.

There were plenty of people walking along with me. It was like we’re having an ‘alay-lakad’ (sacrifice walk) during the month of September. Darkness welcomed us on our way and before I knew it, the people walking along with me were slowly vanishing. Perhaps, I was walking too fast or they just stopped walking. I really didn’t mind it for I know that it would be a very long journey.

My phone then had no more battery and unfortunately my SIM card was also lost. Good thing was that I had a separate phone which I used to update my contacts. To escape the fright, I texted my friends with hilarious messages while walking my way through the Coastal Road. I even joked them asking how much would I be paying for the toll fee since I was using the road, only that I wasn’t in a car. Funny thing though that in spite of the exhaustion that I was feeling, just like the character of ordinary Filipinos, I would still make fun of my situation.

The street lamps were out and the only thing that light my way was the bright moon. The wind was still blowing although the rain had finally stopped. When I was almost nearing the end of the Coastal Road, my feet were already aching and mixed emotions covered my entire body. I was bloody tired, starving, frightened but also pleased that finally, I was near.

It was around 9 in the evening when I reached the Coastal Mall where I saw a lot of commuters waiting for any vehicle that would take them home. Suddenly, I could no longer feel my feet so I decided to just sit first in the aisle and observed the rushing wave of the above-ankle flood. Garbage could also be found everywhere and I thought that if only I could turn back time, I would push myself to look and care for the environment. Suddenly I realized that perhaps, the experience that I felt was somehow nature’s way of getting back what we owed them.


I managed to ride a bus only in Baclaran and due to traffic, I got home past midnight. Due to weariness, I just changed my clothes and immediately fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning, I prayed and gave thanks that at least; I survived one of the most unforgettable journeys in life.

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