Monday is Sierra Madre Day in memory of Storm ‘Ondoy’

“Why would you celebrate a tragedy?” some residents have asked Araceli Becker Bumatay, the homeowners’ association president of Marikina City’s Provident Villages.

Bumatay said she was getting this kind of comment when she was inviting residents to a Mass in memory of “Ondoy,” the tropical storm that sent devastating 7-meter floodwaters on their village and other parts of the eastern metropolis.

“Obviously, most of us can still feel the pain and the trauma that we would rather not remember anything,” Bumatay told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

It was also the reason their association chose to call September 26 as Save Sierra Madre Day instead of “Ondoy Day,” which for residents evoked tragic memories.

On August 10, President Benigno Aquino III declared the Ondoy anniversary as Save Sierra Madre Day in a bid to step up rehabilitation and conservation of the Sierra Madre mountain range, the largest remaining tract of forest in the country.

Mr. Aquino blamed the flooding on Sierra Madre’s deforestation.

Environmentalists claim the range, which starts in Cagayan and ends in Quezon just the east of Laguna de Bay shields Luzon from raging storms coming from the Pacific Ocean.

“You cannot blame us if we still feel bitter. What happened two years was not easy to forget,” Bumatay said.

On that day, she and 13 other parishioners narrowly survived the rampaging floodwaters by clinging to the church chandeliers and pews for several hours. They were saved when a neighbor threw them a garden hose and pulled them one after the other.

One of their companions, Norma Abuel, drowned.

Mayor Del De Guzman, who will lead the fluvial parade and tree planting in Marikina on Monday, said remembering Ondoy meant learning the lessons it taught.

“Trauma will always be there. Many kids here would rush to their homes and hide during a heavy rain,” De Guzman said.

Originally posted: 9:30 pm | Sunday, September 25th, 2011