ketsana's fury in photos...

uncertain steps...you'll never
know what's ahead...

holding on to dear life...




all that's left of my things...

cars afloat in front of a university building...



manggahan floodway had to be destroyed
to give way to enormous volume
of rainwater...


stranded in the airport...





the aftermath...trash and broken fences


...he probably didn't get home on time...

...how did that car get there?...





uh oh...no, they're not matchbox cars...
and no one's playing...they're for real...


in a relief center...cell phones are charging..
how much of their lives will be "re-charged"?





oh no, not even a big, beautiful house
was spared...



saving lives on a rubber boat...




they used a banca to save what's left
of possessions...

"salamat kuya!" (thank you my big brother!)...





saturday is a working day for
some of us. september 26,2009 will
never be forgotten..all were
rushing home...(see the traffic
farther down? some reached home
the next day)


holding on to each other amidst
the typhoon's wrath...



even expensive cars were not spared...



these trash came from everywhere brought by the floods...a backlash
because of humans' indifference to nature...





eroded earth...mud, silt and sand...
where do we start? where do we go from here?


this boy, collects from what's left...
mud, plastic bags, trash...




the nameless...faceless...may she
rest in the peace of God...

i light a candle...for the dead who hope to rest in peace...
and for the living who continue to hope for
a new beginning...

thank you for visiting this blog. please offer 5 minutes of silence in your workplace...homes...wherever you are for us here and send your positive thoughts,
prayers, energy...we need you now...

here is a flower for you in return...peace...may peace reign in our hearts...

(thanks very much to the heroes behind the lens for these photos...)

weena...

i mourn for nature and humanity...

i can't post any pictures today. i can't write poetry. i can't wait for inspiration. i grieve for events past, devastating, destructive. life seems to have stopped. where do i start? what can i say? the rains fell, and fell and fell and for nine hours, poured in 420 mm of rainfall, normally the amount of rain for two months. it's all rain, just rain. and the rivers rose, and they rose and rose and it seemed like it never stopped rising. and the most terrible thing happened.

the river currents did not choose where to go. it just went and went and went. passed houses, trees, people, gas stations, malls, playgrounds, parks, supermarkets, hospitals, churches, city halls, government offices, schools...and i cried for the little houses, with the little people...carried away by the currents. and away and away and away it went with the mothers and children, the old folks, the fathers, the pets, the movie stars and government officials, basketball players, call center agents... were held tight by the strong arms of the river currents...and their senses were carried away. and our senses too were carried away...what do we do? as we watched and watched and watched as all vanished from our sight...

the Marikina Valley and nearby cities, Pasig, Cainta and San Mateo has become a receptacle in geological history. after a great earthquake thousands of years ago, this faultline cracked open and lo and behold, a valley lush and fertile unfolded...sadly, trees from nearby antipolo hills have been wantonly cut, raped and ravaged. where will the rain waters go? and sadly, the people's indifference have contributed to millions of trash...hence the flash floods rising, obtructing all passageways...how sad...i grieve...so many dead and numbers rising...so many of the children and elders lost, missing. and is their wisdom lost too? the children ask. perhaps i will offer a mandala for peace...

we need your positive thoughts...please send us some...we will be peace...

weena