“Hey-lo, Mindanao! It’s Jeanie Abordo from the MindaNews desk in Davao. Before we get to the latest weather, Mya Amores is on location in General Santos City with a report on the recent changes to Search and Rescue operations in southern Mindanao.”
“Thanks Jeanie. In the month since the tsunami, over 10,000 people have been reported as missing and the current confirmed death toll has just surpassed the 6,000 mark. Demand for funerary services is at an all-time high as corpses can still be found amid the rubbish.
During this morning’s press conference, Vincent Bongalon, Joint Operations Commander and Admiral of the Philippines Coast Guard, made an official announcement, stating that the mission is moving from Search and Rescue to one of salvage.”
The time to move on was long overdue. Mindanao had been hurting for the last thirty days. People had begun to rebuild and return to their homes, but only in a physical sense. With so many holding onto the hope of reuniting with loved ones, going back to business as usual was no easy task. The only way forward was letting go of the past.
Baluntay’s former inhabitants went headlong into the task-at-hand. A busload of villagers from Mr. Lee’s house joined the group from Mr. G’s house outside Our Lady Lupita. As they waited, a small group was setting up a light breakfast on the playground.
Cafeteria tables were neatly arranged on the basketball court, each one dressed with a plastic tablecloth and bakery boxes full of cupcakes, muffins, and donuts. There was plenty of juice and coffee to go around, too.
Of course, the children ate the most, which would only propel them into sugar highs later in the morning. Meanwhile, the adults used the breakfast break to fuel their day. Mr. G. gathered with Arvind, Brian, and Rosie in the courtyard.
“What do we have planned for today?” said Jonny to Arvind.
“More of the same, I guess. We should be able to move most of these families into houses by day’s end.”
“Wouldn’t it be splendid for these kids if things could just return to normal?”
“I think it would be splendid for all of us,” said Brian.
“But,” said Rosie, “What are we going to do with the children without parents?”
“Maybe you two could stay down here in the village until we figure everything out.”
The teachers nodded in unison.
“Good. Let’s get things underway so everyone has a place to stay tonight.”
The entire group marched down Academy Road, where they spotted the long line of vehicles parked next to their old village. The sounds of construction filled the air as the second day of work had already begun.
“Just pick up wherever you left off,” said Rosie, “if you don’t have anything to do, just lend a helping hand wherever you can.”
Everyone pitched in, but much of the work was too heavy and too dangerous for the little ones. It wasn’t long until Joy and Herve stopped working and wandered towards the low end of the village.
“I wonder if the piggies are okay,” said Joy.
“I bet they’re gone like the rest of them,” said Herve.
“Don’t say that. They can’t be gone.”
“I bet they are.”
Joy continued down the hill towards the spot where her house once stood. Herve followed close behind.
“Where are you two going?” called Rosie.
“We’re checking to see if the piggies are okay.”
“I’m pretty sure they aren’t down there anymore.”
“Where did they go?”
“I don’t know, Joy. I just don’t know.”
“We should probably check just to make sure.”
“We’d better not,” said Rosie as she grabbed the children by the arm and led them back to the worksite.
“Some of my stuff is still down there.”
“It’s better if we start at this end and work our way towards the bay.”
Joy looked over her shoulder as Rosie ushered her away from the low end of the village. Waters had now receded as far as the piggery and a ragged line of personal debris marked old property lines. While Rosie and the kids returned to the worksite, others rooted through the mud in search of anything worth saving. Juvie ran up to Rosie and the kids, holding a faded pink mirror in her hand.
“Look at this,” she exclaimed, “it’s positively ruined!”
“It’ll be fine. All it needs is a little soap and water.”
“It’ll never be the same.”
“It’s all a terrible mess. How will we ever clean it all?”
“One piece at a time, I guess.”
After Rosie successfully herded the children into the worksite, she returned to the low end of the village, where adults still rummaged through the debris. Rosie joined them, plucking anything completely ruined from the mud and depositing them in the trash. Counting the whole mess at once would be disheartening at best. It was best handled one piece at a time.
Rosie stood and watched the others. Suddenly, she realized something quite horrific. There could still be bodies strewn among the debris. If any one of them happened into missing friends or family, there was no telling how they’d react. She quickly herded the adults to the worksite, too. Then, she pulled Jonny aside.
“We can’t have all these people searching through the rubbish at the far end of the village. We don’t have any idea what’s down there.”
“What do you suggest we do?”
“Maybe we should get a small group of workers to search for bodies.”
“Okay, you can lead the project. Gather a small group to sort through things down by the bay.”
Rosie gave a whistle and the group circled around her.
“Before we search the low end of the village, we’ll build houses until everyone has their own place.”
“I think we should be allowed to get our personal things from the village,” argued Mrs. Velasco.
“Let’s build the rest of the houses first.”
“Maybe our personal things aren’t important to you since your things are safe inside Mr. G’s house, but they’re very important to us.”
Rosie tried to quiet her down, but the crowd sided with Mrs. Velasco.
“Let’s just listen to what Rosie has to say.”
“I don’t think so,” said Mrs. Serencio.
“Hold on just one second, Mrs. Serencio. Let me talk with a few of you privately for a moment.”
Mr. G. pulled Mrs. Velasco and Mrs. Serencio aside and explained the hazards of letting the children dig through the rubble. When the women agreed, they rejoined the group and urged the children to focus on building new homes.
“I want my things,” said Juvie.
“Me, too,” whined Joy, “I just know my stuffed animals are down there somewhere.”
“If your stuffed animals are there, that’s where they’ll be,” said Mr. G. “I’ll send Brian and Rosie to look through things later this morning. Until then, let’s get busy building our houses so we have a place to put our things.”
Joy found Mr. G’s logic totally reasonable and somehow, the littlest of all was the one who led the way back to the worksite. While they were hard at work, Rosie quietly pulled several of the adults aside, starting with Mrs. Velasco.
“If you want, we can sort through things down at the low end of the village. The only problem is, we were worried about finding a body. You know, we still haven’t seen the Jaramillos or your brother.”
“I know, I know, but that’s our stuff down there.”
“Okay, then go and find your things, but be discreet about it.”
Mrs. Velasco nodded.
“I guess that’s that,” said Rosie proudly.
“What’s what?” asked Arvind.
“I got Mrs. Velasco on our side with the whole sorting through garbage thing, but I still don’t know.”
“About what?”
“What we’ll do if we find a body.”
“I guess we’ll figure that out when it happens.”
The morning passed without much worry and things only got better as one of the Army Humvees rumbled down Academy Road.
‘What is it?” asked Mr. Lee.
“It’s an Army vehicle and I think Ralj…” said Rosie. Her voice trailed off as she walked toward Academy Road. As the Humvee neared, she could plainly see Ralj in the driver’s seat. Rosie broke into a full sprint and ran the whole way to the Humvee. By the time Ralj parked and got out, Rosie was already there. Everyone looked on as the girl from Oklahoma jumped directly into the Master Sergeant’s arms.
“Hey! It’s so very good to see you!”
Ralj grabbed Rosie in his arms and swept her off her feet. It took everyone by surprise as the pair joined in a long embrace. As they gathered around, the biggest surprise emerged from the back seat.
“Pidro!” cried Maria, “Is that you, big brother?”
“It is, it is,” he replied coolly. He circled the Humvee and hobbled towards Maria. His left leg was bound in a bulky knee brace.
“Oh my God! What happened to you?”
“I took some shrapnel in the knee.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m just fine. The Army docs in Manila patched me up and I’m as good as new.”
He pulled the pack off his bag and reached inside.
“What ‘cha got for me?” asked Maria.
“A box of tamarind treats, and there should be enough for everyone.”
“You know…tamarind is my absolute favorite!”
“That’s exactly why I bought it,” he said with a wink.
Maria led her brother to the worksite. In fact, the whole group of villagers circled about Pidro and Ralj, glad they were home.
“We don’t have a good place for you to rest your leg,” said Maria.
“I’ve been off my feet for over a month. I’m happy to be up and moving around.”
“Be careful not to get any mud on that bandage,” said Ralj, “the doctors said you gotta keep it clean and dry.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”
Pidro moved deftly along the muddy trail to the construction area.
“Things are looking pretty good around here. How bad was the damage?”
“It was terrible…just terrible. The whole village was washed into Sarangani Bay.”
Pidro hopped over to water pump and glanced around. His old home wasn’t the same. He searched his thoughts as he started downhill. However, Rosie quickly ran interference.
“Hey, Pidro, come here for a second.”
“What is it?”
“I need to speak with you and Ralj.”
“Can it wait?”
“I don’t think so.”
She stopped him there and they spoke in hushed tones. Soon, all three returned to the Humvee. Then, Pidro motioned to his little sister.
“Maria…come here for a second. I need to say goodbye.”
“But you just got here.”
“We have to get back to the base.”
Maria threw her arms around Pidro and hugged as tightly as she could. After a few moments, Pidro peeled her away.
“Keep your chin up, I’ll be back as soon as possible. I promise.”
Albeit a short reunion, the return of Ralj and Pidro lifted everyone’s spirits higher than they’d been in a long while. By the time lunch rolled around, they constructed an additional six homes, making it ten in all.
Jonny leaned on his shovel and took a deep breath. He, too, was more hopeful than he had been in a long, long time.
“Looks like the old village is coming back into shape,” he said.
“It sure does,” agreed Mr. Lee, “I think we’ll be all ready to go before sundown.”
“When do you think you’ll be able to start construction on the villas you were telling me about?”
Arvind shook his head, “I’m not sure. The auditor’s office put up a few road blocks. We’ll just have to see what happens.”
Arvind plucked his cell phone from his pocket and held it in his hand for a second.
“Do you think anyone’s hungry?”
“We’ve had a very productive morning,” said Jonny, “I think everyone could use a little break.”
“I’ll have Jaki fetch us something for lunch.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I want to.”
Mr. Lee placed an order for forty and as house number twelve was complete, a car horn honked repeatedly. Jaki’s tiny hatchback approached on Academy Road with a back seat full of boxes and bags.
The people rose from their various work poses. The children immediately flocked around Jaki’s car, ready to cart armloads of pancit and sticky rice to the playground at Our Lady Lupita so they could eat to their stomach’s content. As Rosie and Brian approached to see what hadn’t been claimed, Jaki had one last thing. It was a large rectangular box which had the word “balikbayan” printed neatly on the side. Rosie recognized the handwriting immediately. The box was from Oklahoma and the writing belonged to her mother.
“I wonder what could be inside.”
Originally, the Pinoy word ‘Balikbayan’ referred to the Filipinos living overseas. Just as with the tradition of pasalubong, where travelers would return home with gifts for their loved ones to represent their trip, the Balikbayan Box was a container shipped from overseas containing items such as clothes, perfumes, chocolates, or canned goods from that country.
“It must’ve cost a fortune to ship,” noted Brian.
“It says $44.30 on the shipping label.”
“I hope it was worth it.”
Brian offered to carry the Balikbayan Box, but Rosie adamantly refused, extremely happy to have a present from home. A group of children rose from their places and flocked around Rosie as she entered the playground. They were excited, too.
“What do you think it could be?” asked Juvie.
“I’m not sure.”
“Maybe it’s a box full of tamarind,” suggested Herve.
“Why on earth would Miss Saspy get tamarind? She’s from America.”
“What do you eat in America?”
“All kinds of things,” said Rosie, “hamburgers, hot dogs, Italian food, Chinese food…”
“Maybe it’s a box of hot dogs.”
“Honestly, Herve, it’s not hot dogs!” scolded Maria, “it’s something nice, like…well…I don’t know, but it’s something nice, I’m just sure of it.”
“Well, we’ll see,” said Rosie as she continued back into the classroom and sorted through the boxes until she found an old pair of scissors. When she returned to the playground, the children were huddled around the box. There were hushed whispers as children continued to wonder what could possibly be waiting inside the box.
“Can I open it?” asked Joy.
Rosie shook her head, “that wouldn’t be fair to everyone else.”
Joy started to pout.
“It is her box,” said Mr. G., “she should be the one to open it.”
Rosie held her scissors like a dagger and drew the cutting edge along the taped seam. It popped open easily, revealing a simple handwritten letter sitting atop a pile of Styrofoam worms. Rosie dug through the worms, excavating the contents of the box. First, she pulled out a clutch of Oklahoma Sooners shirts in a variety of colors and sizes and handed them to Brian. The children snatched them from his hands faster than he could hand them out. Then, Rosie found a box of Girl Scout cookies and handed it to Juvie.
“You’re in charge of the cookies. One at a time and remember: nobody gets a second one until everyone’s had a chance.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Juvie dutifully passed out the cookies and they disappeared just as quickly as the t-shirts. Rosie also produced a red rubber playground ball with the OU insignia emblazoned on the side. She handed it Herve and immediately he was swarmed by the other children, who also wanted to play with their new toy.
As the children fought over the red rubber ball, Rosie dug through the worms again. She found a large box with bright red wrapping paper sitting in the bottom of the box. Everyone crowded around as Rosie opened the box.
“What is it?” asked Mrs. Serencio.
“It’s brand new hiking boots.”
“Oh,” Mrs. Velasco said flatly.
“No, I’m so very happy to have new boots. The soles on my old boots are worn through.”
“Then I guess that’s a good thing.”
“Sure is.”
Everyone waited as Rosie did the laces and tried on her new boots. However, before she’d even had a chance to try them on, Mrs. Velasco interrupted again.
“Well, is there anything else?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You might want to check just to make sure.”
Rosie dug through the Styrofoam worms, but the box was otherwise empty.
“Well, I guess that’s it then.”
Rosie nodded, “Yep, that’s it.”.
Although Mrs. Velasco seemed severely disappointed, the children had unofficially formed the first Filipino Sooners Supporters Club, all adorned in crimson shirts and caps that were much too big for their tiny frames. However, none of the children were about to take off their new shirts, regardless of the fit.
“Aren’t they just splendid?” asked Joy.
“Splendid…” Rosie chuckled as she repeated Joy’s peculiar word choice. Splendid, however, had been the word of the day. As the children played a game of tag, Rosie joined in, trying out her brand new hiking boots. All the remaining adults except Brian had returned to the worksite and put the finishing touches on the village. Meanwhile, Jaki Gomez had returned to the main office at the construction site to assist Mary Kirkpatrick. While they worked, they received an unexpected visitor.
“Do you know where I can find Arvind Lee?” asked the woman.
“He’s rebuilding the village over in Baluntay.”
“Maybe you can help. I have a friend and I’m sure you kinow her. It’s Eiselle Lee.”
“Oh?” replied Mary.
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but she is trying to ruin the lives of those villagers in Baluntay.”
“Oh,” said Jaki, “we’re well aware of Miss Eiselle’s evil plans for anyone who can’t further her cause…whatever it might be.”
“Did you know she’s enlisted the help of Ysabella Monroe and Anne-Marie Kwok?”
“What kind of help?” asked Mary.
“They want to block construction o at the Lee Estate.”
“I know that Eiselle doesn’t want it, but she has very little control over Arvind. In this part of Mindanao, what Arvind wants, Arvind gets.”
“Okay,” said Lorna, “I guess I was worried over nothing.”
“It’s not nothing,” said Mary, “we’ll take it for all its worth. Eiselle has her moments – and so does Anne-Marie.”
“if there’s anything I can do…”
“Here,” said Jaki, “take my business card and don’t be a stranger. We could always use more people on our side.”
The women thanked Lorna and quickly returned to the task-at-hand. It was no small coincidence that Jaki and Mary were also working on the villas project. They were just on the opposite end of things.
“We’d better go see Arvind,” said Mary, “it looks like we’ve got a few more things to discuss with the Lee Estate. Grab the Villas File and we’ll head back to baluntay. I’ll drive.”
“Sure thing,” said Jaki, “you know I’m willing to do whatever it takes to see those people happy.”
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