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The Last Man is the Poor Juan

Written by: Chingaii

Three of the rescued survivors in Iligan City flash flood brought by tropical storm "Sendong". (Photo credit: http://iamjammed.com)

I do read the Bible often. I know the prophecies recorded in there but it still caught me off guard to see those prophecies happening right before my very eyes — yes, I am talking about the flash floods that recently hit my beloved Cagayan de Oro City. I have seen how devastated the whole city was and I have seen how it struck both the rich and the poor.

I have seen videos of retrieval and rescue operations. There’s one thing that amazed me: those who were rescued floating on the sea and alive were mostly children from the less fortunate families. That’s the advantage of being in the lower class maybe. These children were used to all the hardships that life brings. Since the day they were born, they were already struggling. Instead of exclusively taking in milk for the first few months of life, their parents introduced them already to glutenous rice. Instead of playing with cars and barbies, you will see them playing with rubber bands in the soil with no slippers at all! Worst, some of them you will see sifting through rubbish in a local garbage landfill. Instead of sleeping on comfortable rooms, you will find them trying to fit in makeshift houses. Awful!

They have been through a lot that the flood seems a normal event. On the videos, we can see how they struggled on the sea trying to hold on to either logs or plastic containers just to float their way to life and survive.

How about those children born with silver spoons on their mouth? Most of them did not make it. Yes, I can see the photos of the missing children and most of them looks affluent. (Or maybe, the poor don’t have much photos to post on Facebook or don’t have access to Facebook at all.)

I am not saying that it is good to be rich or to be poor. It is just that when it comes to struggles, the last man standing is always the poor Juan or Juana.

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