The Feb. 6 earthquake is almost surely going to be the biggest news story of the year, if not the decade, especially for the people of Negros Oriental.
While many had seen movies of a more devastating scenario (people in Guihulngan, for instance, refer to the movie 2012
as a close depiction of what they went through), never before had anyone experienced such calamity first-hand.
It is comforting to know that a few days after the earthquake, power was restored, stores reopened, and roads and bridges became passable. Slowly, the towns are returning back to life.
But the rehabilitation of the infrastructure cannot quite erase the trauma and fear lurking behind everyone’s minds. “What if it happens again?” “If it happened once, it can definitely happen again!”
Those are all valid fears but we cannot go on living in fear. Life has to go on. With the exception of those who lost their homes and families, those who have homes to return to should no longer live in tents and wait for relief goods. They should start doing something to take them back to pre-earthquake times.
Instead of giving out food packs, those who are thinking of helping the earthquake victims might want to give over-the-counter medication, hand tools, bags of cement, some wood, or roofing materials. Let’s help rebuild their schools and hospitals. Let’s send their children to college through scholarships.
This will be a long and slow process. But hand-in-hand, we can get there. We shall overcome.
