Instant food (especially those with very long expiry dates; yes, not healthy, but…)
Drinking water.
Traditional radios. (Preferably ones that can be recharged so you can reserve your batteries for other purposes.)
Two-way radios (a.k.a. walkie-talkie).
Backpacks, belt bags.
Maps and compass. Do you also know how to read maps and use a compass?
Escape routes.
Do you know which places were marked for emergencies?
Some of the people I know also have generators, gas, and bunkers already. Yes, bunkers in the Philippines (oh, and guns, really).
Don't rely on electronic gadgets. The first things to go fast are electricity supply and communication network.
Remember there are 3 major fault lines in Luzon.
East Valley Fault System
West Valley Fault System (100+ km long; from Angat Dam to Luzon-Batangas boundary)
Manila Trench. On the West Philippine Sea, running from Northern Luzon to near Mindoro Island.
We haven't even considered the 1,200-km Philippine Fault System (which itself is major too, but we rarely hear about it). It runs from Northern Luzon to Southern Mindanao.
Then the currently unstable and volatile China issue, which, as I've talked about previously, can easily turn into a major regional or world war.
See #Makati in the attached map in the post above? That's where we live, and work.
According to the #PHIVOLCS FaultFinder app, we are only 5.2 km away (straight line) from the nearest West Valley Fault System.
I can easily run 5 km between 50 and 60 min (in 2020, I can do 5 for 35 to 40 min)). That's how close we are. (And it is my major reason why I avoid working in Taguig and Pasig, again.)
Not to mention, the type of soil underneath our cities, and liquefaction, also matter big time. (It affects the “intensity” of an earthquake, which is different from “magnitude”.)
We can't just leave. Where else should we go? Forget about the other natural disasters, earthquakes have recently occurred in places initially thought of should not have any; or at least have no recorded earthquake or oral history. It can happen anywhere.
(* Warning: video is shaky. I had no plans to take videos.)
New Year celebrations in the Philippines has gone a long way. Decades ago, almost every family have their own fireworks and firecrackers. It ranged from the biggest, loudest, longest, and most dangerous, to the smallest, quieter, and still dangerous. In addition, it can take an hour or two before it starts to get calmer (three hours in some areas).
For the past ten years, the Philippines implemented and enforced better fireworks quality control and banned the dangerous ones. There are still some that slips through the cracks. In addition, organised celebrations have become common.
This is the Gregorian New Year celebration of 2024 in our hometown. It's the quietest and shortest to date.
The oldest recorded contact between the #Philippines and #Korea was during Korea's #JoseonDynasty, sometime in the 19th Century to be more specific (Joseon lasted for 500 years).
Little known fact: During #WorldWar2, Imperial Japan brought in Korean soldiers in the Philippines as an additional military support of Imperial Japan's occupation.
There are many #Koreantown in the Philippines. The two most known are in #Makati City and #Angeles City.
Happy 125th Independence from Spain my beloved Nation, the Philippines!
(Which ironically, we're still using the name they gave us.)
For today's independence post, let's talk a bit about General Pío del Pilar.
The attached image is the KKK (Katipunan) flag used by General Pío del Pilar, the namesake of barangay Pio del Pilar, #Makati City.
His flag was called “Bandila ng Matagumpay” (en: “Flag of the Triumphants”) and was first used on July 11, 1895. (And his KKK faction was called “Matagumpay” (en: “Triumphants”)
Pío del Pilar was a force to reckoned with. He liberated , defended, and participated in many battles against the Spaniards. Some of these places we know today as Mandaluyong City, Las Piñas City, the Municipality of Pateros, Taguig, the province of Nueva Ecija, parts of Cavite province, and Calamba City (in the province of Laguna), to mention a few. (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%ADo_del_Pilar )
Fun facts:
General Pío del Pilar was born in Barrio Culi-culi, San Pedro de Macati.
Barrio Culi-culi is today's barangays Pio del Pilar and Bangkal.
While San Pedro de Macati is now Makati City.
His father was a farmer from Pasay City (one of the oldest cities in the country, and itself was a “kingdom” in pre-colonial times, named after Dayang-dayang (princess) Pasay, daughter of Rajah Sulayman of the “kingdom” of Maynila).
And his mother was an embroider from Mandaluyong City.