All For a Greater Good

Imagine it as JIO's POV

The best way to exhaust the 6-day vacation is by lending a hand to the typhoon victims.

Ateneo were among the pioneers of the volunteering and distribution of relief goods followed by La Salle and UP. UST I was the last to advocate a community service clearly because we have our own battle against the legendary floods of España. I saw an announcement in CSC's site about the said Tulong Tomasino so I immediately told Michiko since were planning on taking part of the volunteering. She replied that instead of joining the charity work in school, we could just contribute in their area's so I agreed. I met up with Aaron in the overpass shed, took an FX up to Blum then rode a tricylce to where Michiko would pick us up in Balic. Saw her and introduced us to the people behind the community service. Apparently, that friend of hers work for senator Francis Escudero and that the donations came from him so our task is to allocate it.

Packed goods ready to be administered to the denizens of Marikina.


We were oriented that we are to meet the senator's affiliate named Warren in Tiende's parking adjacent to Fun Ranch. We were given allowance for cab and were divided into three groups. Cabs were such a snob so we decided to hire a jeep for all of us since that would be wiser and definitely be a thrift tactic. Got a private jeep and rode it till Tiende. Upon arriving there, we saw our contacts and asked us to ready ourselves and go inside the transpos readied for us. The most epic highlight of this service was the ride itself. We were perched atop a firetruck with the siren wailing all the way to the venue followed by large black vans, later by the military volunteers and the truck loaded with the provisions. It was a loud and catchy convoy similar to presidential escorts. All the people were looking at us and the vehicles nearby won't dare get in the way.
A fitting word for it: MAANGAS


























Chiz is known for non-transparency and minimal exposure compared to all prospects for the seat of power so the shirt would be the humblest way of making his help acknowledged and known. Nevertheless, his affiliates were from an organization that doesn't front his name for campaign purposes.

First stop was in the Tañong parish. We assembled as a compressed
line and one by one held the plastic bags to the next person, a
manual assembly line; a work hand in hand. My arms ached
after that but it was worth it. Then we jumped in back to the truck
for the next place. There was traffic so the advantage of the siren
has no use. Mountains of junk lay in all sides, slippers clung in
electric wires, children and men barely naked, mud-streaked and
damaged houses, an image far from Marikina's reputation as the
cleanest city. The ghost town is worse than I thought. Roads were
all muddy and slippery. There is no electricity, a candle was all
that's keeping their hopes alive. Almost everyone was telling us
they need water, I could imagine how hard it is for them to find
sources that will quench their thirsts. The dry traces of flood in
walls were horrid indications of its really high level. The
instruction was to deliver the boxes and groceries into the other
truck so that they will manage the distribution in an evenly
manner. I no longer cared how the grimy mud at my feet
splats on my shoes and good enough, we finished our work there.
We were informed that that was the last site so we returned to
Tiende to eat. For our efforts we earned our thanks and received
an incentive so we spent it for our dinner. After eating I told them
I'll go ahead, took a bus then went home with a smile.It's an
immersion that really drove us face to face with the reality.
Somehow the sight I saw took me by surprise with a mix of awe
and awareness but my grasp of the society's state
catapulted to a whole new paradigm. The pleasure of serving
and reaching out is mine. Happy to oblige.