Unsung heroes answer disaster calls

As Filipinos commemorate National Heroes Day on 31 August, thousands of less celebrated heroes will be doing what they have done through countless disasters: Entering danger so others can escape it.

Police officers move through flooded neighborhoods. Soldiers drive rescue vehicles through submerged roads. Coast Guard crews deploy boats.

Firefighters check flooded structures. Disaster workers clear access routes, while barangay volunteers go house to house persuading residents to evacuate.

Their work has again become critical as the southwest monsoon, or habagat, brings heavy rain to Luzon and the Visayas.

In Metro Manila, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority recorded 143.5 millimeters of rain in nine hours on 29 August at its Science Garden Station in Quezon City.

By Sunday morning, rainfall had reached 186 mm over 23 hours. The resulting floods have triggered another round of rescues and evacuations.

The Philippine Coast Guard said its personnel assisted in evacuating 10,370 people from 19 to 21 August during an earlier period of habagat rains. The agency also reported helping about 8,000 people affected by severe rains and flooding in recent weeks.

But rescue figures reveal only part of the work.

Evacuees must be transported, registered and sheltered. Food and water must reach evacuation centers. Roads have to be cleared, flood levels monitored and equipment moved between affected areas.

The responders doing this work face the same dangers as the people they rescue — drowning, electrocution, landslides, debris and unstable roads.

National Heroes Day traditionally honors Filipinos whose sacrifices helped shape the country. But heroism is not confined to historic battles or names etched in monuments.