I’m back after a long absence. A lot of things happened over the weekend, the strongest recorded super typhoon in history is one of them. Haiyan, or locally called Yolanda, caused massive destruction in the Visayas, my hometown Cebu included. Tacloban and the other towns in Leyte have it the worst though, with death tolls now rising up to 2,200 (as per last night’s news) and erasing cities and towns from the face of the Earth. It’s tragic and heartbreaking.

Now that the damage is done, it’s time to rebuild and recover.

A lot of people are hungry. And thirsty. And a lot of help have been pouring in from countries all over the world. This is probably the biggest global relief operations I’ve seen. And we’re lucky to be receiving this overwhelming support from everyone. Everyone is doing their part, raising money for donation, volunteering at repacking stations, and spreading messages of hope and how to help. There are those who fuss about people who “publicize” the help they are doing – I don’t find anything wrong with that. At least it encourages others to do their part. Personally, I prefer to help in silence, but I don’t judge those who are vocal about their efforts. As long as everyone is helping, that’s what matters!

A lot of people are angry. At the national government mostly for taking too long to organize themselves and respond timely. There are so many things going on I personally wouldn’t know where to start unless I sit down and really think about it. Now that’s it has been 5 days after the typhoon, it’s about time we see something more concrete. Like the creation of a special task force team or something. I think prioritizing the clearing of roads and restoring the airport/ports is of utmost importance because this is the only way that the relief goods and supplies can get to the victims of the typhoon. This is where the bottleneck is right now, and this is where our national government plays the most important part. They can leave the rest of the task to the Filipino people and the volunteers. Just focus on clearing those roads!

There is a lot more that needs to be done. We’ve barely started. You can help, even while sitting in front of your computer. Here are some of the ways to help out (compiled by Rappler).

The simplest thing you can do is keep spreading words of hope. I’m personally tired of all the hate posts in Facebook. Those aren’t helping. We’re all disappointed, but we can’t keep getting disappointed. Do something concrete. Spreading negativity will only lower morale, and will make us feel bad about our country. We’re not a hopeless case. Let’s all prove that in our own way!