Filipino of the Year 2011: The Volunteers
They’re the silver lining behind dark clouds, rainbow after a storm
Philippine Daily Inquirer
February 5, 2012

(Editor’s Note: Now on its 21st successive year, the Inquirer’s Filipino of the Year honors a living Filipino who made the most positive impact in the past year as voted upon by the editors and assistant editors. Aside from the one most voted upon, the other nominees in the order of their number of votes were Leila de Lima [some editors have been voting for her the past three years], the Indie Filmmaker, Dragonboat Team, President Aquino [last year’s winner], Azkals, Robin Lim, Netizen, Beauty Queens and Mommy “D.”)

Were an artist to piece together a collage of the names and faces of the rescuers, relief workers, volunteers and donors who stood and delivered during and in the aftermath of Tropical Storm “Sendong” and other calamities in 2011, the resulting artwork would look, without doubt, lit from within.

A good heart beating at its core would cause the collage to glow.

There is no master list of the volunteers and donors, none tracking their names, their hours, their deeds or their gifts (in the future, there should be an effort at keeping one). But they were there—when and where they were needed.

It was in the last quarter of 2011 that the most destructive typhoons hit the country. “Pedring” and “Quiel” blew into Luzon in September and October and left 101 dead. The first affected 3.03 million people in 35 provinces and the latter, 1.11 million people in 18 provinces.

Then one night in December, Sendong unleashed an unprecedented amount of rain on places in Visayas and Mindanao so unfamiliar with such fury that, instead of keeping watch, the villagers went to sleep as the rivers were swelling. The cities of Dumaguete, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were the hardest hit.

At last count, 1,268 people were dead, 6,071 were injured and 52,435 houses were ruined, with almost 15,000 totally destroyed. The damage to infrastructure and agriculture was assessed at P1.71 billion.

Read full article @ newsinfo.inquirer.net