Humble holiday

At the very beginning, it was a time of great humility. Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem to take part in a census, though Mary was not only with child but about to give birth. They moved from inn to inn, searching for a place to stay the night, but there were no rooms available. Finally, one man took pity on them and told them he had a stable free. Joseph and Mary found shelter in that place, and Jesus was soon born in a manger, all of them finding the humblest of shelters. But it was enough.

Shelter is something so many Filipinos now seek. After the devastating journey of Tropical Storm “Sendong” down South, more than 50,000 families and over 300,000 people were left homeless by the untimely storm. The force of nature did not choose, destroying the domicile of both rich and poor, but while the sturdy houses of the well-off proved in many cases to be ample protection, entire populations of impoverished were immediately left helpless, their ramshackle shanties swept away in a howling heartbeat. The humble were rendered even more so.

Now, they seek any kind of shelter and security in the disastrous aftermath. And like the Holy Family before them, there may not be enough room at the inn. The evacuation centers groan with the multitudes, able only to hold so many refugees from the storm; thousands more are still where the storm found them. Government is reeling with the casualties: some P1 billion in damage and more than a thousand dead and a thousand more missing. Their families face the bleakest Christmas of all.

Sendong’s passage puts the Social Weather Stations’ newest survey results in a harsh light. The number of Filipinos looking forward to a happy Christmas in 2011 was pegged at 64 percent, seemingly a good number, until one considers that it is actually down five points from 2010’s 69 percent. More tellingly, that number has been going steadily down every year since 2002, save for 2010. The 2011 survey notes that the expectation of a sad Christmas also rose four points to 11 percent from 2010’s 7 percent. And these were the results of a survey done before the arrival of Sendong.

This month must count as perhaps the saddest Christmas in recent memory, with so many grieving and others without a roof over their heads, men, women and children lost at a time when Filipinos expect to be happiest. But there is hope. The response to the calamity has been simply overwhelming as government and private sources readily gave—and continue to give—aid to the storm victims.

In that selfless act of giving, one remembers that the first to come and adore the newborn Savior in Bethlehem were shepherds led to the manger by an angel announcing the birth of Jesus. The shepherds came and did their part, led by a bright light and leading a humble example for us all.

It is an example that has found form in how Filipinos responded to the plight of our brethren in the Visayas and Mindanao. Everywhere, they donated money and goods while others gave of their time, working at evacuation centers and relief organizations. After all, a 2006 survey conducted by the SWS and the consultancy group Venture for Fund Raising revealed that 99 percent of all Filipinos donate in some way or other to charitable causes.

But from that same survey, we find that the most impressive thing is how the poor still responded to disasters. These Filipinos who have almost nothing found it in themselves to still give to those who had even less than they.

That survey reveals one inspiring fact: “The poor give more than the rich. It’s fantastic,” according to Venture executive director Marianne Quebral. “And it’s not because there are more poor people than there are rich people. It’s (based on) absolute figures, in terms of average annual giving,” she explained. “Filipinos are really a hospitable people. Kahit hirap na hirap na, magbibigay pa rin (Even those living in deep poverty would still give to charity). Nobody is too poor to give.”

As we give of ourselves in this time of great need, we follow in the example put forth at the very first Christmas, where a carpenter and his wife welcomed a son in a manger, under the bright light of a star that shone over all things and all men, rich and poor, a loving light we celebrate today.