At around this time in 2021, typhoon “Odette” battered many Philippine towns and, in her wake, left a trail of devastation.

Stormy Christmases are not new to the Philippines, mostly because we are situated in the path of typhoons, even as the country also sits atop the earthquake belt. Doomed as we are in these changing climes, nothing seems to top the devastation we feel in the wake of the rising, uncontrolled corruption.

It is a joy-sapping reality that had never been felt before, as far as I know. It leaves us stunned, weighed down by a sense of betrayal so deep we can hardly move, let alone move on. 

Looking into the disaster budget at the time, when the harrowing effects of the super typhoon had given way to a sense of despair, then President Rodrigo Duterte said he would discuss with the Department of Budget Management the possibility of finding more funding for the typhoon recovery efforts. 

The reaction to that had been almost knee-jerk, with critics saying that it was “impossible” for the typhoon-ridden Philippines to have no money for disaster situations. At the time, the Philippines had acquired loans that doubled the national debt in 2016.

How clueless were we that only after the flood control project anomalies were laid bare this year did we realize how infrastructure can be such a graft-ridden exercise. Naïve? Numb? Dumb? 

Catatonic, perhaps? Cluelessness comes maybe from not knowing how deep and widespread the corruption had gotten. The numbness begins upon realizing just how worthless our trust had been on people we prayed would lead us out of despair.

Still, the holiday season will, late as it may come, remind us of what matters most in life. That unfettered faith and optimism that make us unique as a people have also seen us through the best and worst of times. We have learned to cope with life’s blows by holding on to each other. And today, when it seems there is no one to hold on to, we know we can always count on the “reason for the season” to see us through.

Here’s wishing everyone a truly happy holiday season, simple may one’s gatherings be over toasted pandesal and queso de bola, and a little round of jamon simmered in one’s unique marinade. As long as we have our loved ones, whether beside us or across the miles, it is still possible to feel peace, gratitude, and joy this season.

Perhaps the message to us all — yes, including those who have yet to account for their sins to their fellow Filipinos — is to find comfort in simplicity. 

In the end, no amount of gold or trappings of wealth can replace the love of family, the respect of community, and dreams attained without cost to others’ lives.