Fearless Five  

MEDIUM RARE

A radio commentator was the first to prick the conscience of residents of a barangay in San Miguel, Bulacan who “did not want to be rescued” and as a result caused the death, though inadvertently, of five volunteers who had braved the cold dark rainy night to save them.

What do you do when your mission is to save lives but the would-be victims refuse to leave their homes out of fear of the rising flood waters, the unknown? As the commentator lamented, addressing the subjects of the rescue op that was not to be, “If you had followed instructions to evacuate when there was time, we would not have lost five brave men.”

The Fearless Five, strong, well-built men in the prime of life, four of them in their early 40s and one 30-year-old, rode in a truck and drove into the floods – as high as 10 ft – during the wee hours last Sunday. One of them cheerfully talked about their mission on Facebook. When the truck was sunk by the flood, the rescuers transferred to a banca, not knowing that a bigger danger was awaiting them. In short order, a wall collapsed on the boat, taking them down to a watery grave. The bodies were recovered when daylight broke.

Immediately the provincial government of Bulacan extended financial assistance to the families, but the surviving kin have appealed for more help. Now there’s a rush to establish some form of compensation for volunteers and first responders, such as insurance coverage and hazard pay (at P2,000 a month while a state of calamity is in effect).  Sure, there is no price for bravery and risking one’s limbs and life for strangers, but we also need to teach young and old that when danger lurks, lying in wait like a shadow, time and tide wait for no man, woman, and child.

For starters, the purpose of early education is not to prepare children to make a living but to teach them how to be safe. Every so often, legislators remind educators to teach the kids good manners and right conduct, which is well and good, but one’s own safety is just as important, if not more so, than being polite to others. These are dangerous times.