Barely a month after the northern part of Philippines was extremely devastated by typhoon Sendong, another calamity has beset the archipelago in the form of a magnitude 6.9 killer earthquake that affected Cebu and Negros Oriental.
Monday, February 6, around 11:49 in the morning, just when everybody was left unguarded, the killer quake claimed many lives in the affected areas of Western Visayas. Until now, many are still unfound. No more chances of life could be gleaned with tons of soil covering the houses located in the mountainous areas of Cebu.
The catastrophe has also pulverized a number of residences, roads, bridges and schools. It has also injured the water system and power services in the most affected barangays.
Traumatized, many residents have now evacuated to the mountain peaks, with their families and a few belongings. They have built tents out of their blankets, and slept, ate, and cured their wounds on the vacant mountain top plains. This is because many aftershocks are still felt to date, a few days after the quake happened. They fear that a similar incident would happen again, maybe this time they would not have luck on their side.
More than that, they cry for water and food. Even when they had all the money in the world, many stores have temporarily closed. This is the time when money is nothing. With broken infrastructure, it has also been hard to send any form of help to the categorically isolated areas. 
Needless to say, the physical, emotional and psychological healing and recovery of all who have been damaged, especially the children, should be a main priority. Long-term solutions must be rolling by now.
Nobody can predict an earthquake. Not DOST. Not PHIVOLCS. But there can be ways to avoid or lessen its ill effects.
Lastly, this is another clear manifestation that we do not have control of the world. But we can do the next best thing, HOPE and PRAY.
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