Photo courtesy of Yahoo! PH News

Filipinos are currently facing the destruction that Super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) has created in central Philippines. The government along with NGOs and various people all over the country have been extending their help to their fellow kababayans. Netizens have been spreading out important information before, during, and after Yolanda. Bayanihan could be seen among our fellow countrymen as we put up a brave face to help each other. Despite this current hell that we are all in, many of us still hope that "This too shall pass." But this shall take awhile. For everybody is a victim, carrying it all is definitely difficult. Though the worst is over, there are still a lot to attend to.

Photo courtesy of Yahoo! PH News

The people spreading out that Filipinos are looting like criminals should be ashamed. Looting is allowed by the government in times of great catastrophe such as a landfall. People are in desperate need for food, water, shelter, and transportation. Looting for these basic needs is out of desperation but not out of greed. Let us be careful of how we label the looters in Leyte. They loot for survival.

As for the government officials who are still blaming each other or the people who live in these suffering towns, let us focus on the issues at hand and try our best to meet the victims' basic needs. I hope that promises for restoration are not just words or unfinished projects but a continuous effort.

I am not in Leyte to be able to tell how grave the situation is right now. The scenes we see in television or in the internet do not even show us what is really going on out there. But with all the information we get about our kababayans' state in the affected areas, let us send our help in any way that we can.
Every Nation has started relief efforts to the victims of the typhoon. Visit these sites for details on how you can extend your help wherever you are:

1. EN Philippines http://victory.org.ph/article/yolanda-relief/

2. EN Asia http://www.everynation.org/asia/help-the-victims-of-super-typhoon-haiyan/

3. EN North America https://admin.everynation.org/giving/?s=015012


Now is not the time to accuse and blame or make judgment but to show compassion to one another.

Matthew 9:36-38

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”"