5:00 am
I was up and rearing to go. A question popped up,
“Will we make it?" And a short prayer was quietly uttered.
6:00 am
Eloisa and I caught a jeepney to the venue.
Gee, there were already people queueing up at the gate.
I told the guards to let them in so they can
sit and wait on
the bleachers. The ‘kargadors” and other volunteers
were already there piling up hundreds of sacks on
the
court’s stage. It took us three truck
loads to finally
gather them all up.
7:00 am
The queue was getting longer, stretched up to the
City hall on the left and to MacDonalds along Quezon
Avenue
on the right. Those without tickets were trying
to implement the “annoying” tactic. I have to thank
the guards for the way they handled the crowds.
8:00 am
We have over 2,000 people inside the basketball court.
Most of them were already sitting on the floor. ( See
photos.) We have observed that it would be impossible to
get their names because they were getting irritated.
Some
even sarcastically suggested to just take a photo.
9:00 am
Marvin Pasajol, representative of Cong. Procy Alcala came
and introduced himself to me; Cong. Alcala was in Japan;
City Councillor Joe Asensi was there and assisted
us.
Past Ugat Presidents and officers came in trickles,too.
Then finally Cong. Raffy Nantes arrived. Cong. Raffy
reminded the crowd that the reason they were
there was
because of Ugat’s mission to make a difference
on fellow
Lucenahins. He asked the crowd several times
to thank
Ugat for this mission.
It was a frenzy. No one
wanted to listen to instructions to an orderly way of distribution. It had to be stopped several times because the crowd was
getting unruly. But the volunteers kept their cool and did their best. People came with 2 to 3 stubs. Others were just presenting
a white paper similar to the size of the stubs. I was stunned as to how people became “innovative” just to get
a bag of relief goods.
The feeling of being able
to help overshadowed what we have witnessed: the lack of discipline, pushing out of desperation, and a few more. But all these
did not dampen our determination to do it again and again… learn
from this and make it better or offer better to our fellow Lucenahins.
Ugat 2007 invited volunteers
for a sumptuous meal at Hacienda Inn. Cong. Raffy and former Gov. Eddie Rodriguez joined us in our Thanksgiving meal.
To our sponsors Cong.
Raffy Nantes and Cong. Procy Alcala, to the volunteers especially the Kabataang Ugat, 2007 Ugat officers and to the past Ugat
presidents and officers who joined us and inspired us with their presence….
