Konted's Make My Day: The Rampaging Waters Of The Marikina River

The Rampaging Waters Of The Marikina River

Typhoon Gener had battered the country with torrential rains for almost a week and was on its way out when a low pressure area was developing. With it came the monsoon rains. It was not a surprising development as monsoon rains do come at this time of the year. With the resulting cold weather, I was listening last Tuesday night to Jim Webb's MacArthur Park as sung by Richard Harris.

Oh how I like this song. A song from the late 60s. I was playing it over and over again. What I like most is that part when Harris would sing and emote: "I will drink the wine while it is warm...And never let you catch me looking at the sun....But after all the loves of my life, you'll still be the one....And wondering why " Though full of metaphors, I can relate to this song as you too can find meaning to it. It tells of broken relationship, of true love that was not meant to be, of lost love. It takes you back to years gone by and to days of long ago.

I was in that mode when my son Albert barged into the room and volunteered the information that the Marikina River was swelling and that authorities had sounded the alarm earlier. We were three or four blocks away from the river. With an unzipped trouser and an unpressed jacket, I rushed to the public pergola where one could see the river. People were milling around. And true to what Albert reported, the river was inundated. I could see the rampaging waters of the Marikina River as it submerged the nearby community hall.

I was counting. It had been raining for three days and non-stop at that. Come to think of it, time was when the river could hold water even as it rained for days on end. Time was when the river was teeming with fish and old folks would go fishing. Time was when there were no informal settlers near the riverbanks. Time was when the towns of San Mateo and Montalban, which are situated at the upper part of Marikina River, were sparsely populated and the nearby mountains were planted with trees. With the passing of the years, the situation has drastically changed and Marikina has become the catch basin of water coming from the above-mentioned areas.

Now, as I stood there at the pergola watching the angry, swollen river going wild, panic was starting to creep in. I figured that in a few hours, the water would rise up to the level of the streets. And with a force so strong, it would destroy everything in its path. Land would become part of the river. Vehicles would be washed away.

Minutes later, I realized that I was in that stage where I could not prevent the possible outcome. I was in that point in time when I could not do anything to alter or remedy the situation. It was a case of force majeure. Remember when Julius Caesar, while crossing the Rubicon river, dramatically said: "The die is cast." I had to allow Nature to take its course. And true enough, Nature was taking charge as the river started to swell even more. Nature's wrath was evident.

The situation remained critical the next day. With Albert on the steering wheel, we drove to Robinson's East, taking the main highway to avoid floods. We intended to park the car at the mall's covered parking lot but we were told by the guard that all slots were taken since the previous day: "Punong puno na po kahapon pa. Walang bumababa." At the Sta Lucia Shopping Mall, though the mall was virtually empty of shoppers, all parking spaces were occupied. Obviously, the cars were left there as a precautionary measure. As we were to drive out, I saw a parking slot at the elevated ramp of the driveway. But it had a "Reserved" signage on it. I pulled it to the side as Albert parked the Vios car. We left it there for the night, away from the rampaging waters of the Marikina River.

That night I prayed. I was bargaining for intermittent rains, meaning, for it to rain, then for it to stop. Then to rain again, and to stop once more. I was bargaining for time for the river to slowly subside. But there was no let up. This time, there was lightning. There was thunder. At this time, too, there was an unusual calmness in me as I was totally resigned to whatever fate would befall us. And due perhaps to tiredness or exhaustion, I fell asleep. I was calm in my sleep, calm as a child.

Thursday morning, the skies surprisingly were clear and the sun was shining. The water level of the river was quickly going down. Alert level was downgraded. The barber shop was now open. The stall selling porridge with tofu was doing business again. The village rumor monger, with rosary and stampita in one pocket, was her old self again. And I was in the room listening once more to Jim Webb's MacArthur Park. This time it was Donna Summer singing with a disco beat: " I will take my life into my hands and I will use it...I will win the worship in their eyes and I will lose it.... I will have the things that I desire and my passion will flow like rivers to the sky...after all the loves of my life, you'll still be the one.... and I'll ask myself why. "

- Konted