istatus riport January 2009

this weekend even with the dreaded flu virus, i hitched a ride with my brother around North Cotabato and Maguindanao. my agenda was to do an "ocular" evaluation of the status of the evacuees.. to confirm reports that they are still there and to assess whatever needs to be assessed. in short.. i just needed to see for myself. i admit i have been remiss with the relief efforts but hey i'm only human and i DO get sick once in a while :)

besides i was bored at home. my friends facebook walls were filled to the brim with my comments so that was a clear sign that i had LOADS of time on my hand. kids were practically pushing me out of the door!

here's a status report..

Midsayap still had evacuees along the highway but they seemed to have settled themselves into the area and looked quite comfortable enough. they were drying fish and had sari sari stores everywhere. galing ng Pinoy talaga.

the Buisan warehouse in Pikit looked next to deserted since evacuees were concentrated in far-off areas now. it was still too early for the barbecue at Nestor's barbikyuhan so we hied off to Pagalungan instead to look for food.

Pagalungan had no evacuees.. none. But we did stop at Babo's store to eat pastil laced with umami and to catch up on some new gossip with my cousins there. oh, how i missed that place.
 
(with nephew Abe)
(pre-requisite thugs in the back of the pick-up truck)

Datu Montawal was the same unmoving place. nothing new there but the sparkling cars at the Mayor's house. honestly, while the munisipyo got poorer their garage seems to get bigger. hhmmm.

Kabacan, of course, holds a soft spot in my heart. i adore the University of Southern Mindanao (USM)  peeps. and kudos also to the new USM president Dr. Derije for his new appointment. i wanted to visit one of my dad's wives in the university but changed my mind at the last minute.  didn't want to spread my virus.

passing through Matalam enroute to Paglas i remembered a brother telling me he had plans of running for mayor in Matalam. another one of us succumbing to the salacious power of politics. goodluck with that. i must admit infrastructure in that place is way better now. 

my sister and i have a running joke that when the road gets really bad and the potholes on the highway get bigger.. you would know that you were entering the town of Paglas. that still holds true. i ribbed the Vice Mayor through an sms message  about having his roads repaired and all i got was his usual "oo naman bai." he's nice. and good looking too. he's a nephew so don't get any bright ideas (silly you)!!

we stayed in Paglas for a while just to catch my breath since my meds were losing their magic touch and the fever was once again making its prescence felt. the bed in my sister's house looked enticing but we had to trudge further.

Datu Piang was still a sight to behold. really. i couldn't take photos and the depression  hit me like a bullet train. the evacuees were still all there. scattered around like a hundred marbles on the floor. i felt so bad that i gave instructions to my brother to take me home. 

it still hits me. no matter how many times i see them.