Quaking over natural disasters

By Herbert Vego

 

HOW do you react whenever you hear somebody mutter, “Earthquake,” and feel the tremor yourself?

When a strong one rocked a number of Bicol and Visayas provinces yesterday, did you panic or behave in accordance with the earthquake drills you had participated in?

Whenever you hear the news that a typhoon is approaching the Philippine area of responsibility, do you run to the nearest grocery store to fill a cart with meat, fish, vegetables, fruits  and canned goods?

Don’t blame us who hoard that way until you learn of the circumstances we have gone through. In my case, it was typhoon “Frank” in 2008 that washed away my precious possessions, including an old typewriter and a camera.

It pays to brace ourselves against any threatening natural l disaster. After all,  the Philippines has already lost so many lives and properties to typhoons, floods and earthquakes that “survival” seems to befit only the “fittest.”

Any natural disaster is metaphorically called “act of God.” While we are not privy to the etymology of the metaphor, it paints the picture of man struggling to survive God’s punishment which could be in such forms as typhoon, flood, earthquake and tsunami.

People who are supposed to rest on their laurels, having retired and are tired of any more work, may suddenly lose everything they have to natural disasters. Imagine a farmer who loses what could have been a bountiful rice harvest to “act of God.” He suddenly falls back to poverty – if not under the ground for eternal rest.

Fear of death ranks as the number one reason why we dread natural disasters. This is especially true to survivors of “Yolanda” that destroyed thousands of homes and drowned thousands of people and livestock to death almost seven years ago.

What have we done to deserve the “acts of God” over matters beyond our control, including the lingering coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic?

More often than not we deserve His “wrath” for “sinning” against nature, as in illegal logging that depletes forest cover, consequently causing killer floods during rainy days. Because of the fault of the few, the innocent also suffers.

One vital lesson that natural and man-made disasters teach us is that the rich and the poor may lose everything and suddenly find themselves on equal footing. There are even instances when the poor are more comfortable because they are already used to poverty and so have a better coping mechanism.

Another lesson is that we should always prepare for tomorrow’s disaster, even if today’s weather is fine. It is a “given” that disaster victims with reserve wealth – money in the bank, for instance – recover faster.

Those with no immediate prospect of bouncing back because they have lost everything, including their only source of income, face a blank wall. They could be so desperate as to commit suicide.

On the positive side, it alerts us into rediscovering that we are not the owners but just temporary custodians of our lives, the earth, and all materials possessions thereat. We bring no property to the afterlife.

“For all the earth is mine,” God said in Exodus 19:5.

Nevertheless, we walk on the earth with faith that God would not allow us to deal with problems we can’t cope with.

The late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, “These are not hard times; these are more challenging times.”

While natural disasters  have a high potential to place us at risk for stress, anxiety, and anger, we have ways to reduce the effect of a natural disaster.

Let us seek social support. Over and over again, it has been found that finding support from others can be a major factor in helping people overcome the negative effects of a traumatic event.

Seek crisis counselors to talk to. After a natural disaster, they may be brought in to help us cope with the impact.

Talk about the effect of the natural disaster. Share your feelings with others. Emotions need to be expressed. If we hold them in, they may only grow stronger in intensity.

Focus on self-care. Any misfortune can deplete us physically. Let us eat well, sleep well, and exercise moderately.

Find ways to help others. Helping others can provide you with a sense of agency, purpose, control, and empowerment

“When the going gets tough,” says a familiar adage, “the tough get going.”

 

-oOo-

 

Should delayed delivery of power bills from MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) be a cause for alarm?

No cause for alarm; you would neither be surcharged nor disconnected. It’s not your fault if you happen to be among the 65,000 electricity consumers in Iloilo City.

This was the assurance relayed to us by Ariel “Aye” Castañeda, head of MORE’s I-Konek department, in an interview on the radio program “Tribuna sang Banwa” on Aksyon Radyo last Sunday.

It has only been six months since MORE Power took over as power distribution franchisee from Panay Electric Co. (PECO), hence within its period of “birth pains”.

Moreover, Castañeda said that the company would always welcome suggestions and complaints concerning its services and rates.

There is no truth to the rumor that MORE charges higher rates than PECO. On the contrary, it charges more or less 75 centavos less than PECO that charged P10.35/kWh in its last month of February this year.

MORE is able to give more for less because it purchases energy from various power generating plants at the lowest cost possible.  These are the Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC), Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC), Aboitiz Power Renewables Inc. (APRI), Korean Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

Also, the company remains on a “spending spree” in its ultimate goal of modernization, for which it is earmarking P1.8 to P1.9 billion in the next three years.

According to MORE Power President Roel Castro, the amount will fund the utility’s reliability projects, systems loss reduction projects, systems capacity projects, and safety improvement projects.

Clearly then, MORE Power’s first order of business is to rehabilitate the aging and near-obsolete substations, feeders, transformers, poles and billing meters, among other facilities “inherited” from its predecessor.

MORE Power has absorbed PECO’s technical men for the herculean maintenance and rehabilitation of feeders and five substations. Three new substations will be added up in the next three years.