March 14, 2011
12:00 NN
In front of the gate of Polytechnic University of the Philippines
"My God! What is going on here?"
Philippines was stunned after seeing a big crowd of students going out of the gate of the State University, that high noon. She took out her camera and began shooting pictures of that surprising scene. Suddenly, her phone rang. She took it out from her pocket and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Oh, Ma'am. We've just received breaking news about the explosion of the nuclear reactors at the Fukishima Prefecture Plant just now!" the voice on the other line said, sensing a mood of agony on its tone.
'Are you sure that that news was true?" Philippines asked loudly, covering her left ear to hear the one she's talking to. Irritated, she went under a store to hide herself from the sun's heat rays. She placed her phone firmly near her right ear.
'We're not that sure, Ma'am. In fact, we would like to ask you if you received a text message just now?"
"What text message?"
"About the threat of radiation here in the country, Ma'am."
"WHAT THE?" Philippines exclaimed in disbelief. After a few seconds, her cell phone vibrated, signaling that a text message has been received. She held the line and checked who texted her. She saw a text message on the phone screen, which goes in this manner:
"BBC Flashnews: Japan gov't confirms radiation leak at Fukushima nuclear plants. Asian countries should take necessary precautions. Remain indoors first 24hours. Close doors and windows. Swab neck skin with betadine where thyroid area is, radiation hits thyroid first. Take extra precaution, radiation may hit Philippines."
She paused for a while and thought of what she had heard just now. Radiation? Is this some kind of a jest or what? Whatever that means, she only knew one thing: THAT WAS TERRIBLE! She called the person she talked earlier and waited for a moment for that person to answer her. In just a few seconds, the man on the other side put on the line.
"I just received a text message about that threat of radiation here. Alright then, I will go back to the Palace to verify those text messages and see if these messages came from a reliable source." Philippines said firmly.
"Thank you very much, Ma'am!" the voice on the other line said. Then, the line was off.
The lady nation was still standing under the roof of a carinderia store, setting aside her ebony, silky long hair on one side and tied it with a ponytail. She took out a handkerchief and wiped her perspiring forehead. She sighed and looked around her with those pure black eyes. Students were talking with one another with a questionable look, wondering what's going on. The noise was everywhere. She looked for a spot to sit on and then, sat on a stairway.
"God, this is not true." she thought.
Suddenly, there were voices screaming. Philippines stood up and checked what's happening. She walked hurriedly by the railway and saw a group of students cursing at someone far from their position. Philippines gazed her eyes and saw a man in a red sando and a pair of shorts, running fast, far away from them.
"Thief! Give me back my cell phone, you bastard!" a young man shouted furiously. His friends were trying to calm him down, but the nation noticed that those young adults were having their brows down in anger. Those "trolley boys" ran towards the man in the red sando, chasing him to retrieve the stolen phone. Philippines asked them, "Nahuli na ba siya? (Is he caught already?)"
"Hindi pa nga po eh! Diyos ko! Dapat mahuli 'yang hinayupak na yan! Magnanakaw! (No, not yet. My God! That bastard should be arrested now! That thief!)" the young student said exasperatingly. I put my hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, he'll be caught."
March 14, 2011
6:00 PM
At the Malacanang Palace
Philippines arrived at the Palace at six in the evening. She rested for a while, and then turned on the television to watch the news. She also turned on her laptop and surfed the Web. Almost all news was pertaining to the recent March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster at Japan. She checked to see if the text messages about the threat of radiation were true. Until then, it was found out that all of the spreading texts are all hoaxes.
"So all of those text messages are just rumors! Those were horrible! Thank goodness, those messages are not true!" Philippines said, after a deep sigh of relief. Afterwards, news about the recent updates on Japan made a sudden change of mood to the beautiful lady nation's face.
Philippines, with a worried look on her face, asked a worker to get her a telephone. Afterwards, she called her fellow nations to check them all out. She called America first, who was busy preparing precautionary measures for tsunami aftershocks, protecting the west coasts of that big nation. Then, she called England and France, who were also sending aid to Japan that moment. Philippines called those other countries who were friends with Japan. Finally after having many conversations with the countries that were aware of the tragedy, Philippines put down the phone and lay down on her bed. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She opened them slowly and the thought of calling that recently devastated Land of the Rising Sun entered into her mind. She rose up, took the phone on her hands and started dialing the line.
A beep on the other line was heard. In an instant...
"Konnichiwa! Watashiwa Nihon desu. (Good afternoon. This is Japan.)" the voice on the other line replied.
"Oh...Japan. This is Philippines. How are you feeling? I've heard that you were at a hospital right now."
The voice on the other line gave a hard cough. Then, Japan said, "I'm fine. Thank you very much, Philippines-chan."
"I-I am deeply trembled for what had happened to you. I can't bear the aftermaths of those calamities there. I've been monitoring your home here on TV for almost 24 hours. I'm worried about you and your people. Don't worry...we've been sending aid for your people. We're doing the best that we can to help you. My boss already commanded everyone to come for you." Philippines said with a trembling tone in her voice, forcing herself to stop her eyes from wetting with tears. Japan chuckled on the other line.
"Thank you very much. I owe everything to all of you, including my life. Thank you."
All of a sudden, Philippines sensed a wavering tone in Japan's voice. She felt that even a strong nation such as Japan will feel depressed and weak...after everything that had happened...who would ever thought of wearing a smile during these terrible hours? Philippines suddenly thought of all those horrible calamities and disasters occurred in her homeland: the 1991 Hyatt Hotel Earthquake and the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo on the same year, that dreadful typhoon which struck Ormoc, Leyte which caused a great flood due to illegal tree logging in the province, and the recent typhoon Ondoy which made the capital sank in the flood. All of those other calamities made Philippines cry silently. Tears flowed freely down to her cheeks. She knew the feeling of losing everything: her home and most importantly, thousands or rather millions of lives of her people which were taken, looking back at those years. She felt it. She was completely consoling her fellow Asian nation at this point. She knew that Japan was now feeling the same feeling she had years ago.
The two were silent for a long minute. Then, she heard Japan coughing so hard, and she can hear him breathing difficulty. In a second, Japan spoke, now with his voice shaking, "Will I be able to overcome all of this, Philippines-chan? I-I don't want this to happen again.I-I-"
Japan's voice broke. Sobs began to be heard on the other side of the phone. Lament of fear, agony, depression and guilt. Japan was crying. Philippines was secretly surprised. This is the first time she talked to Japan in that situation. She never heard him or sees him lamenting like that. Philippines can't hide her broken feelings now. But she had to stay strong. She listened attentively to the nation on the line.
"Now…don't blame yourself, Japan. Don't cry…" Philippines said firmly, struggling not to make her voice sound miserable.
"Gomenazai (I'm sorry.)…I'm sorry if I'm saying these things to you. The truth is…I haven't told all of these to everyone. I'm sorry." Japan said sadly, trying to make his tone calm.
"No, it's OK. Just let it out. Anyway, what are friends for, right?" Philippines replied.
Her sad expression disappeared. With a smile, she said to Japan, "All of this happened for a reason, you know. Don't blame yourself on this. It's Mother Nature. We can't control Her. All you need to do is to stay strong. Everything will be fine soon. I know that God had made everything for a purpose."
After a pause of peace, Philippines heard Japan chuckled. This time, it was pure chuckle. A little laugh of joy. That laugh made Philippines smile. She was glad that she somehow eased Japan's pain.
"Thank you for your encouraging words, Philippines-chan. Arigatoo gozaimasu! (Thank you very much!)" Japan said, now his voice was a little glad. Philippines, on the other line, exclaimed and said, "Walang anuman! (You're welcome!)".
The conversation ended up with Philippines' promise to visit the Asian nation after three days.
March 17, 2011
8:00 AM
Tokyo, Japan
As promised, Philippines, together with her bodyguards and the Philippine Embassy, arrived at Japan by morning. By plane, she already saw the terrible impact of the earthquake and the typhoon. She was in her deepest thoughts when she didn't notice that she already arrived at the airport.
She rushed to the hospital where the nation was currently confined. She was sent into a hospital at Tokyo, the country's capital. She went down in the car and hastily ran inside the establishment. She looked for that room. In a few minutes, she found Japan's room.
She felt a lump in her throat as she turned the knob and opened the door. She found out a room with those relics of mud on its walls. She walked slowly and saw two Japanese bodyguards, guarding a person lying peacefully on his bed. Without the slightest hesitation, she went on the bedside and held the man's hand. The man who was by that time, in the middle of his slumber, jerked. He slowly opened his black eyes and turned his head on his right. He painted a pale smile after seeing that beautiful countenance in front of him.
"Diyos Ko! Salamat at ligtas ka. (My God! Thank goodness you're alright!)" Philippines said with her eyes wet with crystal tears.
Japan smiled at her and then held her hand more tightly as he could, despite of his weak body. "Don't cry. Everything will be fine."
Those long hours of silence and soft talks made that day bright. Laughter echoes inside that room. For the Southeast Asian lady nation, this is her way to cheer everyone. Though she knew that at this moment, her Asian friend was in deep devastation, that entire she can offer to him was her hand and her optimistic, caring heart as his friend and ally. She knew that other nations are doing their own ways to help. But for now, being with him today was the most important thing to do.
Indeed, there's always a rainbow after the rain for them. Not just for those two nations, but also for all of the people from all those nations around the world, regardless of their race, color, blood and nationality. Yes…there will always be hope as long as there is life.