Pinoy501st Relief Operations: Cleanup Report from Day 1

Using some money from the donations we received, we bought some equipment for clean-up operations: 4 shovels, 4 pairs of rubber boots (one in my size, yay!), face masks, rubber gloves, alcohol. Oneal also got tongs, basins and buckets, to make picking up and moving the debris easier.
 
We agreed with Mr. Butch Solomon that we would meet at the gate of Provident Village at noon. Ryan picked up me and Paul at Yale to help us haul the equipment. He would have volunteered too, but he had flu-like symptoms coming on, and didn't want to be a liability.
 
The MMDA was still blocking off the A. Bonifacio flyover from Katipunan, so we went towards Marcos Highway and passed under Marcos Bridge to go through Riverbanks. When we emerged on A. Bonifacio, traffic was bad because there were many water delivery trucks, fire trucks and all sorts of other large vehicles on the road too. It seemed they were all entering Provident Village.
 
Ryan dropped us off outside the gate of Provident Village, and Paul and I carried all the equipment in. We changed into boots when we got into the village.
 
I left Paul at the corner of St. Mary to survey the damage. I went down St. Bernadette St. and saw that there was so much debris on the street, and still a lot of mud and water. Muddy furniture had been discarded and thrown into the street. Damaged cars were everywhere, blocking the way because they were muddy and unusable.
 
When I returned to the main road, the volunteers sent from the UP Mountaineers had arrived, and were donning boots, gloves and masks, and picking up the shovels. I sent them and Paul to St. Bernadette St. to start cleaning while I waited for Mr. Solomon. I told Paul to tell the volunteers what to do, and to prioritize the clearing of drains and sewage.
 
Back on my corner at St. Mary, I waited, and eventually saw Tita Gie and Tito Alex walk in. We were able to give them some of the cash donations, to help them with restoring their home and taking care of their four children, including the hospitalized Amaris. The Cabason family is very grateful to every single person who has sent donations, and wishes me to thank all of you. (Google Document tracking donations we've received and how we're using your money)
 
Mr. Solomon soon arrived with another lady from Rotary Club (I forgot her name, sorry!), and I joined them in their SUV for a drive down St. Mary to survey the damage. She was distributing coffee to the soldiers and police, and Mr. Solomon's assistant Louie was taking pictures of everything.
 
Mr. Solomon, Louie and I were dropped off at the gate with our supplies, and we set up camp at the Police Outpost. Mr. Solomon gave the cops some bread for merienda, then we set off to Bismarck St. to check on Paul and the volunteers.
 
Paul said they were able to talk to some soldiers, who agreed that we should clean up the side streets while they work on St. Mary. But alas, without the sacks for the sandbags, there was little they could do to clear the mud away from the drains. The sludge would just pour back after they shoveled it away. :(
 
New objective: make the road passable by clearing the large debris. They were able to clear the area of Bismarck and Madrid streets.
 
By 3pm, some of the volunteers had to leave, so we all returned to our camp at the police outpost. Mr. Solomon had gone to check on their house on Marymount St. near the Holy Family church, about two blocks from my relatives on Columbia. Louie distributed bread to the volunteers for merienda. Some of the guys left. Paul and I decided to proceed to the house on Columia to set down our stuff, and clean up.
 
It must have taken half an hour of walking, I don't remember anymore. In some places the mud and water nearly reached the tops of my boots. In other places the mud was still so thick that it was hard to lift my feet to take another step. And to think we were still carrying bags of our own stuff, and equipment.
 
By now there were 6 of us: me, Paul, Bernie, Abe, and two other volunteers. We walked down St. Mary, past the soldiers cleaning the street, past other people in rubber boots trudgin along, past muddy houses and overturned cards. It's such a relief that I didn't see any dead animals; Paul said they saw a dead Dalmatian on Bismarck St. People were going in and out of their homes, throwing aways years' worth of personal belongings, and looking for anything to salvage. By now the mood was lighter; people managed to laugh over the things they managed to save, stories of the flood and their survival. Last Sunday everyone had been grim, desperate, bewildered.
 
We made it to Marymount St. and walked past the Holy Family Parish. The pews were overturned and scattered inside the church. The ceiling had fallen, and the wood was warped with water. Rumor has it the parish priest drowned in the flood, with a parishioner who had participated in a Parish Renewal Experience session.
 
The mud was still deep and thick on Columbia St. We made it to the house, and my uncles were surprised to see us. They gave us some water to drink, and hoses and buckets to clean the mud off. Mr. Solomon soon arrived from Marymount, and traded stories with my uncles about Saturday's flood, and traded opinions about what should be done. Oneal arrived with food from Jollibee and the additional equipment: the tongs, basins and buckets. It was now raining, and Paul used the raindrops to clean his boots.
 
We decided to leave, and see how the weather turned out before making plans for the next day. It was also getting dark, even though it was only 4:00, and it was getting cold and windy. We piled 8 people into Oneal's Pajero: Oneal driving, me and Paul in the passenger seat, Bernie, Tito Alex's brother Loloy and one volunteer in the middle, and Abe and the other volunteer in the back. Oh and they were not skinny men. :P
 
We dropped off the three volunteers at the gate, and tried to make our way back to Cubao with Tito Loloy, who saw me last at Tita Gie and Tito Alex's wedding about 22 years ago haha. Traffic enforcers made us turn right at A. Bonifacio Ave., and we turned right at JP Rizal after the bridge. Along the length of that street, MMDA personnel by the dozen were picking up debris and hauling them into trucks so they don't block the road.
 
We emerged on Marcos Highway and made our way towards Cubao. By the time we reached SM Marikina, it was raining hard, it was windy, and it was getting very dark. It was only 5:00 PM.
 
There was already some flooding on Marcos Bridge, and Aurora Blvd. We were able to drop off Tito Loloy at Cubao near the LRT2 station, and it was 6:00 PM by the time we got to Yale. It was cold and just walking from the car to the house I got wet.
 
I hope tomorrow will be better.
 
- TB-1870