April 30, 2007 could be just one of those sultry summer days. For us it was more than that. It was tragic. It was when our house (left unoccupied for a couple of hours) got burned down in agonizing minutes.

        Arriving home at around noon that day, I found our residence - or most of it - being gobbled up by flames, the origin of which remains puzzling to ordinary consumers of electricity that in this part of the globe goes off and on at will. Could it be the refrigerator or the emergency rechargeable lamp that I left (or used to leave) unplugged that caused the tragedy? Was it the decade-old circuit breaker that failed to break? Had the unpredictable brownouts anything to do with it? Or, some personal negligence did.

        Whatever, the house that we had built through the years with our sweat and blood – incidentally not acquired through theft or graft - is gone or practically reduced to charcoal. We can’t undo what had happened, can we? So, “life must move on”.

        But, for a while, let’s look beyond the flames and the smoke. Chances are, right within our sensibilities, the good side of human nature would unfold. Like, the “padyak” driver who allegedly alerted the neighborhood of the impending fire. Some neighbors who called the Naga City Fire Department, the Chin Po Tong and the Naga White fire volunteers. The firemen who braved the heat and smoke with whatever resources and equipment - or the lack of them - they had at the moment. We salute these heroes. And, so do our neighbors and all the good Samaritans who offered or gave us food, clothing, cash and words of consolation. (I could have named them here but I rather not do so lest I would have some names missed out.)

        While I consider our firefighters heroes, I could not help being saddened by the sight of some of them responding to such an emergency in their rubber sandals and undershirts. Moreover, these firemen could not technically use (or have their water hoses fitted into) the fire hydrant that stood just a few meters nearby, enabling the flames to cause further havoc. Which made me wonder: Why would our LGU firefighters (in contrast to the better equipped, better coordinated private/volunteer groups) have to combat fires without fire-proof vests like safety helmets, gas masks and boots and with only small or few fire trucks – and not enough water to contain the fire? Why would “useless” fire hydrants be installed at all? Shouldn’t our government be giving more priority to life-saving, down-to-earth programs than to some self-serving schemes?

        And yes, the fire trucks were slow in arriving at the scene. The answer I got: the firefighters had a hell of a time clearing the streets of vehicles parked unattended on places other than their owners’ private parking areas. Isn’t it high time we passed –and strictly implemented - a city ordinance banning “stray” vehicles (those which find the streets rather than their owner’s garage as favorite parking havens)? Or, shouldn’t our more-often-than-not “toothless” laws restrict anyone from owning more cars than they can physically house, if not honestly afford?

        At any rate, despite the tragedy, we have lots to thank God for. One is for keeping us physically unharmed and our neighbors’ lives and properties spared during the nightmarish accident. Another is for ourselves to have discovered that at times of need some people could indeed turn unexpectedly kind-hearted, generous – and more humane.

        We thank God too for keeping with us our three Labrador-retrievers who had suffered burns, one critically, even as we grieve over the loss of Nikki, our St. Bernard/Japanese Spitz dog, who failed to survive the tragedy not of her own making.

        In an age reeking of crash materialism, seeing one’s dwelling and other “earthly possessions” vanish in flames that fast could be very tragic. Perhaps even much horrible than watching helplessly some innocent dogs writhe or die in scorching pain. But then dogs could be more loyal, honest and harmless than some humans, couldn’t they? And come to think of it, shouldn’t it be most tragic to see our beloved country being virtually sold to the “dogs” (with apologies to Nikki’s race) by some two-legged creatures who have lorded it over our political zoo?

MANUEL A. COLLAO
via e-mail